D3: An Unofficial Sequel to Digimon 02
by Seinaru Kibou no Tenshi
Summary: *NEW! CH 10: QUEST FOR THE CRESTS* In a continuation of season 2, the first and second generations of Digidestined must band together to stop the threat posed by the newly unearthed Dark Crests. [Takari\Sorato\Kenlei]
1. Odaiba Afternoon

D3.1 Odaiba Afternoon

_ Odaiba Elementary_

"Yes! No more homework, books and teachers' dirty looks!" Davis yelled, throwing his satchel into the air in celebration. Unsurprisingly, the bag twisted, opened in mid-air, and emptied itself of its contents. Papers floated down in drifts, caught and chased by the light breeze. Books and pens clattered down around him, his friends had to jump to one side to avoid being hit by them. 

"Davis, you dope!" Yolei scolded, bending to scoop up his scattered possessions, "You'll need your stuff when we come back after the vacation." 

Davis went crimson, as the other Digidestined burst out laughing. Even Ken, who had transferred to their school in the middle of term, was chuckling quietly to himself. That was unusual. Ken never laughed. Cody said it was because he felt he didn't deserve to enjoy himself after his evil deeds as the Digimon Emperor. Being miserable was a way of making up for the misery he had caused others. Davis didn't know why anyone would choose to be unhappy, but he knew that it was almost worth making a fool of himself in front of Kari to see a smile on his friend's face. Almost. 

::Why does Yolei have to be such an obnoxious loudmouth?:: 

Davis would never have admitted it to his friends, but he thought that Hikari Kamiya was the most wonderful girl in the universe. He liked everything about her - from the pink clips with which she caught back her brown hair to the camera that she always wore around her neck. Sadly, whenever she was around him, he seemed to make a crashing idiot of himself. He said stupid things - the words seemed to come out of his mouth of their own accord, and even they were intelligent in comparison to his actions. The lowest point had come when he had tried to make Veemon digivolve to impress her. Even he knew that that had been dumb. 

::No wonder she prefers T.S. to me:: 

Shoving his papers roughly back into his satchel, he scowled at the blond boy, who was standing next to Kari as usual. They had more history together than Davis cared to learn. Like her, T.K. had been part of the earlier team of Digidestined. They had only been little children at the time, but, together with their Digimon, they had helped to save both worlds from destruction. Together, they had faced and defeated everything from the Dark Masters to Venomyotismon to Apocalymon himself. When he had asked Kari about that time, about her past with T.K., she had smiled at him and replied that he had protected her from the darkness when her brother, Tai, had been unable to do so. So there were honours about even there! 

"So, are you free tonight? I was thinking we could all meet at my house and . . . uh, watch TV or something," he asked, trying to skim over his humiliation as quickly and as smoothly as possible. 

"Sorry," Kari shrugged prettily, "Matt and Tai are taking T.K. and me skating tonight. Our moms told them they needed to spend more time with us." 

Davis felt a vein in his forehead begin to throb. 

::Think, Davis. Think. Tai and Matt won't watch them the whole time. You can't let them be alone with each other. There has to be a way of going along with them. Come on, think! They're going with their brothers, so . . . Jun! :: 

Usually, he preferred to forget that his sister existed. It was less embarrassing that way. Jun was always falling passionately in love with some boy or another, and she wasn't shy about showing her feelings in the most humiliating ways possible. At the moment, after a brief interest in Jim Kido, the object of her affections was once again Matt Ishida, T.K's older brother. ::What is it with that family?:: Her room was practically a shrine to him - the walls were covered with photos, the cupboard was bursting with mementoes to the glory that was Matt. She kept every cup from which he drank at the school cafeteria, stole sweaty towels from his gym-bag, chased after every bubblegum wrapper that he threw away. She went to every one of his concerts and threw her . . . underwear onto the stage. Why, she had spent the whole of last week camped outside of his apartment door in the hopes of meeting him. (He had not bothered to tell her that he was staying with his mother and T.K. at the time.) She would have cheerfully killed her entire class if it would allow her to spend an evening with him. She certainly would not question why Davis had taken a sudden interest in her love-life. In other words, she would be the perfect excuse . . . . 

"Er, would you mind if Jun and I . . . uh . . . come too . . . Kari? I . . . need to . . . uh . . . spend more time with her, and . . . uh, she's so obsessed with Matt that . . . I almost never see her now. . . . " 

T.K. laughed, "Sorry, Davis, but Matt would mind. Your sister drives him crazy, and I don't mean in the same way that she is about him." 

"Shut up, T.O! I wasn't talking to you," he yelled, balling his fists. 

"Besides," Yolei had a nasty, knowing grin on her face, "What about the rest of us? Cody and I are free tonight. I'm sure Ken can make it too. Or was your invitation only for Kaaaaari?" 

::I wish she'd shut her big, fat mouth.:: 

In a strangled voice, "Is six okay to meet at my house?" 

"Perfect," Yolei was the picture of self-satisfaction, "I'll bring Monopoly." 

* * *

_Cavern of Sighs, The Digital World_

A shadow amidst darkness, Myotismon picked his way down the long tunnel that led into the Cavern of Sighs. The only light was provided by the walls, which glowed a soft white as if moonshine were trapped within them. It washed everything of colour, making everything seem grey and lifeless. Now and again, the shining smoothness was broken by carvings of what looked like one of the ancient crests to him, if one that he did not recognise. Even more eerily, an underground wind, that blew up the tunnel from time to time, filled the cave with the ghostly whisperings and moans from which it took its name. Those were even audible over the low thrumming of drills and scraping of shovels where the Nanodroidmon were excavating. Even he could understand why this was one of the Digiworld's most holy places. Their desecration of it made the plan all the more delicious. 

"Demidevimon," he called as he stepped into the cave, his voice bouncing off the high ceiling, "Where are you, you fool? She wants to know if you've found them yet." 

His henchmon came fluttering towards him from his perch on a rock. He was holding something in one of his talons and he had a smug smile on his ugly, little face. 

"I have good news, master," he said cheerfully, "The Nanodroidmon have turned up one of the crests." 

"Give it here, you idiot, before you break it. She'd never forgive you if that happened," he commanded. Demidevimon dropped the crest into his hand, grumbling slightly to himself. Myotismon's red lips curled back in a smile as he examined it. Like the other crests the Digidestined had owned, it was a thin, transparent wafer into which a symbol had been inscribed. In the bleached light, it glistened with a darkly damp sheen that reminded him of light catching off an oil-slick. Colours played on its surface, but they were strangely dull and tainted. It was the most beautiful, corrupt thing that he had ever seen. 

"Which one is it, master?" Demidevimon squawked impatiently. 

Closing his fist around it, "The Crest of Fear." 

* * *

_The Icerink_

"Is it just me or are our brothers really bad at this?" T.K. asked Kari with a little laugh, his words coming out in puffs of frosted air. He was sitting beside her on a bench beside the rink, waiting for her to finish lacing up her skates. Out on the ice, people moved in time to the tinny rock'n'roll that was being piped out over the speakers. Or were trying to do so, in the case of Tai and Matt. Her brother was clinging onto his friend as if he were all that stood between him and a lifetime of detention. The blond did not look much more steady on his feet, however, wobbling and teetering like a new-born Digimon. Inevitably, the two tumbled into a heap on the ice, shrieking with laughter. 

She risked a sideways glance at her companion and she felt her stomach hop queasily within her. Resting his chin on his hands, he had a slight smile on his face. He had not changed a great deal in the four years that she had known him. His spiky, blond hair might have been covered by a new, if equally ridiculous hat, but his clear, blue eyes still had something of the innocent child about him. T.K. was the bearer of the Crest of Hope for good reason. His naiveté allowed him to see light where a wiser person would have known there to be nothing but darkness. She was here because of that quality in him.... 

Since he had rescued her from the Dark Ocean, she had become aware that there was no-one that she liked more than Takeru Takaishi. She was not so sure how he felt about her. Although he seemed to return her feelings at times, there were others where he seemed completely indifferent to her. She sighed. Perhaps she had misunderstood him when he had told her he cared about her. Perhaps he only liked her as an old, dear friend or, even worse, as Tai's sister whom he had made a promise to protect. 

::He must never know how I feel about him.:: 

"Come on, T.K," Matt yelled, scrambling to his feet only to have them slide from under him again, "Stop sitting there and come help me, because Tai's useless." 

"Hey!" the dark-haired boy punched him playfully, sending him sliding across the ice on the seat of his pants, "Who are you calling useless, Ishida? I don't see you winning any gold medals for skating soon." (9) 

Grinning, her friend shouted: "On my way, Matt." 

He climbed off the bench and stepped carefully onto the rink, before turning back to her and offering her a gloved hand: "You coming, Kari?" 

::He must never know.:: 

Faking a chuckle, she took it and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet, "And miss the chance to show our brothers how bad skating is really done? Let's go." 

* * *

_Takenouchi Residence_

Legs curled beneath her, Sora sat at her window and watched the city go to sleep. Ever since she had been a little girl, she had loved to watch the apartment windows go dark around her, like eyes closing in slumber. She had loved to imagine what the inhabitants might have been doing; what stories were unfolding around her. Here, a young mother was putting her baby to sleep. She had been working in a factory all day packing, she was all alone in the world and afraid of what the future would bring, but she still found the strength to sing a lullaby. There, an old couple were sitting in front of a fire, talking over beautiful, old memories that had meaning only to them, enjoying the fruits of a life well-spent together. Here, a father had peered in through the doorway just to see his children sleeping, a proud smile on his face. There, a wife was lying awake beside her husband and hating him. Her suitcase was packed beneath her bed, but she had nowhere to go. And, over there, Matt Ishida had probably just returned to an empty house. 

She rested her suddenly warm cheek against the cool glass of the window. At times, she wished that she could be the family that he needed. Or, if not, that she had a right to take him into her arms and comfort him. Oh, Matt pretended not to care that his father worked late every night. He just would laugh and say he liked the freedom it gave him. It meant he could invite pretty girls back to his place without his parents asking them embarrassing questions, he would add with a wink. Sora might have believed him if she hadn't seen the way he looked at T.K. at times. It was a look that was both envious and longing; a look that said that that should have been him with the lovely home and the doting parent. 

::I wish I could speak to Tai about this, but I don't want to hurt him. He's already hurt by what I'm doing. He likes me and I like Matt and . . . Sometimes, I wish I was still twelve. Everything was much simpler when we were kids. Oh, what a horrible mess you've made of everything, Sora!:: 

* * *

_Motomiya Residence_

"Pay up, Davis," Yolei sang as her friend's dog landed on one of her train-stations yet again. This was turning out to be one of the best evenings of her life. Not only was she spending time with Ken whom she secretly adored, but she was cleaning up on the Monopoly board. She had a satisfying pile of money on the table in front of her, she owned all the deeds to the train-stations and the properties in the better parts of town and, most importantly, she was on the verge of bankrupting Davis. 

He was slumped in his chair with his long legs stretched out in front of him and his arms folded across his chest. Beneath Tai's goggles, he had a scowl on his face and a lower lip on which Aquilamon could have landed with ease. Only part of it was a result of being solidly trounced by her at Monopoly. Most of it was due to Kari's absence. 

Although it went against Yolei's most cherished principles to humiliate cute guys, she was prepared to make an exception for the self-proclaimed leader of the Digidestined. If only because Davis was the biggest jerk she had ever met and deserved everything she dished out to him. 

"This was such a good idea of yours, Davis," she said with a bright smile, wanting to turn the screws a little more, "It's such a pity T.K. and Kari can't be here." 

"Whatever," he muttered, expression darkening, "Pass the popcorn, Ken." 

Yolei's insides gave a little flutter at the sound of his name. She could not imagine anyone more different from Davis than Ken Ichijouji. ::He is so cute. No, that's not right word for it. Ken isn't cute like T.K. is cute or . . . ick . . . Davis is cute. Ken is . . . beautiful.:: Dark hair shadowed a delicate, almost girlish face, and his eyes were the same, dusky blue as an evening sky. Unlike his loud-mouthed Jogress partner, Ken was taciturn at the best of times. At the moment, he was watching the proceedings with the shy, half-smile that suited him best. Yolei gave him an encouraging grin, and was rewarded by seeing his own widen a little farther. 

"My turn," Cody called, picking up the dice and throwing them onto the table. The youngest of the Digidestined was also quiet, if in a completely different way from Ken. Kari had hit on the right word for him when she had called him thoughtful. It was as if he saw and felt things on a deeper level than her; as if he could penetrate the surfaces to see the truth. In another time, he might have been a swami or a guru. Yet there was also something about him that made her feel . . . shut out, as if he had politely but firmly closed the door to his innermost soul in her face. And Yolei did not like being excluded. 

"This game is stupid," Davis whined, slamming his cards down onto the table, "There had better be something good on TV, because I'm outta here." 

"Yeah, Yolei is unbeatable," Cody smiled ruefully and dropped his own hand back into the box, "Besides, I don't want to miss that documentary on the history of kendo." 

"KENDO?" he exclaimed, pushing his chair back and making his way to the door, "Forget it, Hida. I wanna see if there's a soccer match on the go." 

Still squabbling over what they would watch, the two friends made their way down the hallway, leaving her on her own with Ken. If she hadn't been so irritated about them quitting a game in which she was ahead, she would have been delighted about that. Being part of such a close group of friends meant that she seldom got an opportunity to be alone with him. 

"If you want to go watch television with them," he said a little nervously, "I'm happy to clean up here." 

Yolei beamed at him. 

::Ken's such a perfect gentleman. Davis would never offer to clean up the . . . WAIT! HEY! He thinks I should go? He wants me to go! Jerk!:: 

In her lap, her hands tightened into fists, but she forced herself to keep her smile on her face. Kari had told her once that she wore her heart on her sleeve. Anyone can tell how you're feeling, her friend had said, they just have to look at you to know. Yolei didn't like the thought of anyone reading her innermost soul like it was an open book. In Kari's case, it wasn't so bad. She was her best girlfriend, her Jogress partner, and Yolei told her most of her deepest, darkest secrets anyway. In Ken's, however, she thought she would die if he realised how she felt about him. 

"I don't like watching soccer," she said lightly, almost too lightly, "Except when you're playing, that is. In fact, Ken, I can't think of anything else I'd rather do than spend time with you." 

::Oops. I guess I should be dying around about now.:: 

Strangely, she felt none of the embarrassment that she knew she should have been feeling. There was only an odd sense of relief that she had finally spoken the words that had been in the front of her mind and on the tip of her tongue for so many months now. 

::Does that make me brazen?:: 

He blushed, a rosy stain spreading across his cheeks, "I . . . I feel the same, Yolei. I . . . I think I like you too." 

::YES!:: 

* * *

_Kido Residence_

"Joe," Mrs Kido yelled, as she set the plates of noodles on the table, "Stop studying for the test and come eat your supper." 

"Aw, mom, can't you bring it through here?" her son's voice was muffled by his bedroom door, "My teacher is just looking for an excuse to fail me, and I still haven't learnt the small intestine." 

With a grimace, she transferred Joe's plate to a tray and added a cup of green tea for good measure. She supposed that she should have been pleased that she had a son who was so serious and so studious. All the other mothers complimented her on how hard-working she had raised him to be. Just the other day, Mrs Kamiya had been saying how she wished Tai applied himself to school in the same way that Joe did. And Mrs Takaishi had said to her on more than one occasion that she was glad Joe was following a more sensible career than Matt, who wanted to be a rockstar. Certainly, her younger son would never be like Jim, who had abandoned his studies in medicine to chase wispy, insubstantial legends. Still, she would have slept easier if she could have gotten rid of her lingering suspicion that Tai, Matt and even Jim were happier than Joe. 

"I'm coming, honey." 

She pushed open the door to his room and paused in horror, her suddenly lifeless hands dropping the tray of food. The contents spilled across the carpet, making a mess which she did not see and about which she did not care. She barely even noticed the hot noodles and tea that splashed on her sandalled feet. She walked to the window as if in a trance, unable to believe what her eyes told her to be true. 

"Mom, what is wrong? Mom?" 

Through the glass, she could see a hole in the sky. 

* * *

IRRITATING ANNOUNCER VOICE: What does the hole in the sky mean and does it have anything to do with the Crest of Fear? Find out next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters! 

* * *

RANDOM NOTES: 

1. I've stolen one or two lines from L.M.Montgomery. Sorry about that, but consider it a homage. :D 

2. Reading back over the piece, this is very romance-intensive, isn't it? It's almost inappropriate for the rest of the series, which is a great deal more action-orientated. I'm almost tempted to revise it and rewrite it, if I didn't think it gave a good overview of the relationships between and the characters of the Digidestined II, which was really the intention of the first part. 

3. Uh, I'm sure it's not Japanese enough, but . . . the dub has a very American flavour about it. Seriously, when they said Mimi was moving to NY, I wondered why it was such a big deal. What's worse is that I'm South African myself. So, apologies for that. :D 

4. Future parts won't be as long. This is seven pages. I'm horrified at how much I have written. :) 


	2. Visitors and Visitations

D3.2: VISITORS AND VISITATIONS

* * *

_ Ishida Apartment_

"Thanks for letting me crash at your place tonight," T.K. said to Matt as they climbed the steps that led up to the Ishidas' apartment, "Mom's away at some conference again and staying with you was the only way to make her stop fussing about me." 

"Not a problem, bro," he shrugged, "I had fun tonight." 

"Me too," he agreed, a mischievious grin on his own face, "Even though you really can't skate, Matt." 

"Hey, it's not my fault I'm not a jock like you," he punched him playfully on the upper arm. It was longstanding joke between the two brothers that Matt had inherited the artistic talent, while T.K. had received the sporting ability. Or, as Tai had put it one day, Matt couldn't dunk anything except donuts, while T.K. couldn't carry in a tune in a togbag! 

"I can tell," T.K. commented drily, "You have a right-cross like Mimi." 

"Don't you mean Togemon?" Matt adopted a boxing stance, fists up in front of his face, and punched at the air. 

"Naah," he waved his hand airily, "You look like Togemon and punch like Mimi." 

"Cute, Teke, very cute," he paused before the door of their apartment and fumbled in his pocket for his keys. As his hands closed around them, however, he heard a soft thud within the apartment, like a lamp falling onto the carpet. He felt everything within him freeze. Their father was away at the same journalistic conference as their mother, and no-one else had access to their apartment. That was, no-one had access without breaking and entering. Swallowing convulsively, he tried the door. The knob twisted easily in his hand and the door swung open a fraction. That was not a good sign. It had been locked when he had left to go skating with Tai, Kari and his brother. 

"T.K., wait here," his voice was low and urgent, "I thought I heard someone in there. I'm going to check it out." 

"You don't need to protect me anymore, Matt," his little brother sounded annoyed, moving to stand in front of the door, "I'm not eight. I'm coming with you." 

"No, you aren't." 

Pushing T.K. out of the way, he stepped into the apartment, slammed the door behind him and quickly locked it. He could hear the other boy begin to pound on it, but he ignored him. T.K. might have been thirteen now, but he was still his younger brother and Matt still had a responsibility to protect him. That hadn't changed since the first time they went to the Digital World. That would never change, even when they were old and grey. 

After the brightness of the corridor, the apartment was very dark. The only illumination was provided by the stripes of moonlight coming through the blinds and slanting across the floor. Otherwise, the rest of the room was a haunted house of vague, looming shapes and sliding shadows. Matt felt the back of his neck begin to prickle, and fear thrill up and down his spine. 

::You have to be brave. T.K. needs you to protect him.:: 

Eyes slowly adjusting to the gloom, he scanned the hallway for something he could use to a weapon. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a tennis racket that Sora had left behind the last time she had come over to study with him. He had put it by the door in order to remind him to take it to school, and had proceeded to forget it for a week straight now. He whispered a thanks to her beneath his breath. As weapons went, it was not much, but it was better than confronting the intruder bare-handed. 

"Whoever you are, come out before I call the police." 

::Great threat, Ishida.:: 

He heard footsteps sounding in the kitchen and he tightened his grip on Sora's tennis racket. Instead of the thief he had expected, a familiar, small creature poked his head through the kitchen door. He was wearing a cloak striped in alternating bands of dark and light fur that covered almost its entire body. All that it left visible was his yellow chin and his belly with its colourful, circular design. A spiral horn protruded in the centre of his forehead through a hole in the fur. His liquid, brown eyes brightened with delight when he saw Matt. 

"Matt! It's you!" he cried, holding out his arms to him. 

Incredulously, "GABUMON?" 

* * *

_ Kamiya Apartment_

"Kari!" Yolei sounded as if she were on the point of hyperventilating with excitement, "You won't believe what happened tonight! Ken told me that he liked me!" 

"Really? That's --" was all that she was able to manage before the other girl launched into another recitation of how cute, sweet and completely brilliant her new boyfriend was. 

Kari was curled up on the overstuffed couch in their living-room, feet neatly tucked beneath her and telephone firmly pressed to her ear. Her brother, Tai, was sprawled next to her, his entire attention focussed on his Playstation 2. He had borrowed Warriors of the Light from Izzy a week ago and had spent every free hour since in front of the television. From what Kari could tell, the entire point of the game consisted of hitting the enemy with an oversized weapon until he or she fell down, but Tai seemed to find it endlessly entertaining. At the moment, his face was scrunched up in concentration and he was grunting along with the character on the screen every time he landed or took a blow. He even moved to dodge the blows. Watching him was a great deal more interesting than listening to Yolei worship Ken, she thought with a giggle. 

Her friend broke off her litany and asked reproachfully, "Are you listening to me, Kari?" 

"You were saying that he is going to take you to Matt's concert in a fortnight's time," she supplied, grateful that she had gathered that much from Yolei's eulogising of Ken. 

"It'll be perfect-o," Yolei sighed happily, then paused. Kari could almost see the speculative look on her friend's face as she did so. Her eyes would be very wide and innocent and she would be twirling a strand of her hair around her index finger. Her mouth would be opening and shutting a few times, as if she were not sure if she should speak, then she would shake her head and begin. With an inward groan, she resigned herself to what she knew was coming next - the Question . . . . 

"So, I guess you're going with T.K., right?" 

:: I called it. What a surprise.:: 

It seemed she could not have a conversation with Yolei these days without her mentioning her relationship with T.K. She did not know how the other girl had learnt of her feelings for him. When she had told her friend about being lost in the Dark Ocean, she had left out what she had said to him after he had rescued her. She had definitely omitted what he had said to her about caring too much for her to let the darkness take her. It was too . . . precious and sacred to spoil by allowing Yolei to spread it around the school, to gush over how perfect-o it was. It was a secret she wanted to keep to herself, for fear it would lose some of its butterfly-beauty in being told. Besides, she thought sourly, he probably did just care for her like a sister or a best friend. 

"I hate to disappoint you, Yolei," Kari tried to sound casual, "but I'm helping Matt backstage." 

"With T.K." 

"He is Matt's brother," she protested, "Matt asked both of us to help him." 

Much to her relief, before Yolei could counter her argument, their apartment's doorbell chimed. It was probably her mother returning from the shops with ingredients for supper. She always said that fresh vegetables were the healthiest, that they lost vitamins in the fridge, so she insisted on buying them a few minutes before she began cooking. If so, Kari would have to go and assist her in the kitchen. For the first time in her life, Kari looked forward to helping prepare her mother's infamous broccoli casserole. 

"Get it, Kari," Tai told her, his eyes not leaving the screen for a second. His character had launched into a series of complex kicks and punches that were driving his opponent into a corner. She had no idea her brother was so good at the game. Despite his hours of play, he had never seemed to advance beyond the second plateau on the Shining Mountain. The guardian had always defeated him in a few seconds. She took another disbelieving look at the screen, then grinned. She had been wrong the first time. Tai was the one on the receiving end of the combo. 

"But I'm on the 'phone with Yolei," she pretended to grumble. She did not want to seem too eager to end the conversation, and not only to spare her friend's feelings. There was a good reason Tai had not received the Crest of Knowledge, but even he would be suspicious if she did not complain a little bit. And, if he found out about her new feelings for T.K., she would never get a moment's peace from him. He already found Davis' crush on her hilarious. _You're his little ray of light . . . Oh, sorry, you're his angel . . . No, no, you're his girl._ Worse still, he would share it with Matt, who would . . . She felt her stomach clench at the unvoiced thought. Tai definitely could not be allowed to find out. 

"And I'm in the middle of a pitched battle," he shot back, "So, scoot it, sis." 

"Cute," Kari rolled her eyes, "Yolei, I'm sorry. I'll call you back later. The couch potato has grown roots and needs me to get the door for him. Bye." 

"Hey, I heard that," Tai objected. 

"I don't know how. Potatoes only have eyes and not ears." 

Replacing the telephone on the receiver, she jumped lightly off the sofa and walked to the door. When she opened it, she smiled in delighted surprise as she saw the Digimon standing in front of her. It would have looked like nothing so much as a miniature tyrannosaurus rex, if it had not been orange and had a huge, happy grin on its face. Even despite the goofy grin, however, it might have scared some children. Still, Kari knew of old that there was nothing to fear from any Agumon. It was the first kind of Digimon she had ever met, when she had barely been out of diapers. It had risked its life to protect her and her brother from Parrotmon. Between it and the Agumon whom Tai had received later, she had decided that it was probably the most gentle and most compassionate Digimon species of them all. 

"Hello, Kari." 

"Hey, Agumon. What are you doing here?" she bent to hug him, then yelled over her shoulder, "Tai, the visitor's for you." 

* * *

_The Park_

"This had better be as important as Tai said it was," Izzy grumbled to himself as he hurried along the pathway that led into the park, "I hate leaving my computer in the middle of a format." 

The rest of the Digidestined, with the obvious exception of Mimi, were already waiting for him by the time he reached the tree under which they had arranged to meet. Even Ken, the former Digimon emperor, was standing there with a beaming Yolei by his side. He noticed that both Tai and Matt had their Digimon with them. Of course, he had expected Agumon to be there from the little Tai had told him but he was surprised to see Gabumon. He had not known that both of them had come from the Digital World. The blue Digimon looked concerned, pacing backwards and forwards in front of Matt. That was enough to tell him that it was serious. Gabumon was the most serene Digimon he had met. Nothing seemed to ruffle his fur. 

"What's up?" he asked worriedly, looking down at the two Digimon. 

"I'm not sure," Agumon answered slowly, "All I know is that another Digimon has come through to your world and that it probably shouldn't be here." 

"How do you know that?" Cody sounded puzzled. It was the sort of question Izzy might have asked when he was younger, when he had not been so familiar with the extraordinary and had not taken wonders for granted. His experience in the Digital World had changed him more than he had thought. Still, he approved of the question. There was no point proceeding on a false assumption. 

It was Gabumon's turn to reply, "As I told Matt and T.K. earlier, we saw the sky split open above Infinity Mountain. It looked as if something had taken their claws and simply ripped through it. If that wasn't bad enough, we could see your world, shining among our stars, through the tear. . . ." 

"Yeah, I saw it. Or my mom did," Joe interjected, when Matt's Digimon trailed off with a fearful expression on his face, "I tried to explain to her that it was just the aurora borealis, but I don't think she believed me." 

Nodding at Joe's words, Agumon picked up the story: "Then we saw a dark shape rise into the sky and pass through the hole. It looked like . . . like a . . . what do you call the furry, black creatures who have the same wings as Patamon?" 

"A bat," Yolei supplied, her eyes wide behind her large glasses. She had moved a little closer to Ken, Izzy noticed, and his arm was around her shoulder as if to protect her, "Do you think it could be . . . ?" 

"Myotismon," Kari finished her Jogress partner's thought in a hard, determined voice. Her appearance more than matched her tone. Her fists were clenched at her side, her mouth was set in a straight line. She looked prepared to take on the evil Digimon barehanded, and Izzy would have gladly placed money on her defeating him. She had always had a particular hatred for Myotismon, because of how he had abused and enslaved her Gatomon. 

"That is what we feared," Gabumon said quietly, "It is why we two followed the other Digimon through the hole in the sky. It is why the others stayed behind in the Digital World to protect it. If Myotismon is active again, both our worlds are in terrible danger." 

"I thought we defeated him!" Davis replied, stamping his foot on the ground in exasperation, "I thought Okinawa's final sacrifice was enough to keep away the darkness for good!" 

"The darkness can never be completely defeated, Davis," Ken sounded strangely tired and sad, "Where the light shines most brightly, the shadows are also blackest." 

"What does that mean?" Davis' voice mixed puzzlement and irritation, "It's no good going all zen on us, Ken, and expecting us to understand." 

Even though Davis was confused, Izzy thought he understood what the bearer of the crest of kindness meant. It went back to what Gennai had tried to explain to them years ago. Light and darkness, good and evil, held each other in balance in the Digital World. Where one existed, the other also did. As Ken had put it, light always cast a shadow. It was an immutable law of nature. Of course, none of that explained why Myotismon was threatening their two worlds again. That meant that the balance between the two was out of kilter, that there was more darkness than there was light, and that they would have to restore it. 

Before he could open his mouth to explain, Tai summed it up better than he himself could have when he said, "It means that we're in for the fight of our lives." 

* * *

OBNOXIOUS ANNOUNCER: Has Myotismon come through the hole in the sky? If so, what is he planning and will Agumon and Gabumon be enough to stop him?Find out next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters! I 


	3. The Skull Beneath the Skin

D3.3: THE SKULL BENEATH THE SKIN

"It means we're in for the fight of our lives." 

The words had just left Tai's lips, when, as if on cue, the sky was filled with a hideous squeaking. From everywhere and nowhere, bats began to swoop down from the sky and swarmed around the Digidestined. Eyes tightly squeezed against them, Tai ducked his head and tried to beat them off with his hands, but there were too many of them. Their wings flapped and slapped against his bare skin, giving him a thousand, stinging blows. Above the noise, he heard Agumon yell "Pepper Breath", then the high, shrill cry of a bat. The smell of burnt fur and charred skin filled the air. _If I could just get him to Digivolve to Greymon, we might stand a chance._ He groped for his Digivice, but the bats bumped it out his hand the instant it closed around it. It fell to the floor, useless.

Suddenly - as suddenly as it had started - the attack stopped. 

Cautiously opening one eye, stooping to retrieve his Digivice, he saw that the animals had converged on a single point. They were swarming around each other, squeaking frantically, wings snapping. He realised with a jolt of horror that they were merging to form a single entity. It had large, black wings and its head was crested. The moonlight glinted off sharp, white fangs. Even though it looked like an oversized bat, Tai would have recognised the creature anywhere . . . 

"MYOTISMON!" he heard Sora yell behind him. 

"You got it in one, Child of Love," the evil Digimon dropped the darkness that had been surrounding him in the way that a normal person might have dropped a cloak. He was dressed in a black uniform, complete with brass buttons and epaulettes. A full cloak, lined with red silk, billowed out behind him. And, worst of all, he was almost beautiful. If Angemon had fallen from grace, he might have resembled Myotismon. His features were delicate and refined. His long, golden hair shone in the light, while his skin was the clear white of fine porcelain. Only his mouth - a bloody gash in his pale face - gave any clue to his true, vampiric nature. 

Looking at him, Tai felt very tired and hopeless all of a sudden. _::He's back. No matter how many times we defeat him, he always comes back. Why should this time be any different?::_

"Gabumon, do it!" Matt yelled, pulling his Digivice from his belt and pointing it at his Digimon. Tai saw that he had moved to stand in front of Sora, evidently to protect her. Tai did not know whether it was a friend or something more. Even though the thought of any relationship between them caused a strange ache in his chest, Matt's instinctive gesture filled him with a new resolve. _::It doesn't matter how many times I have to do it. If I don't stop him, he'll hurt all of them. He'll hurt my family and friends. He'll hurt Sora.:: _His fist clenched around his Digivice. 

"Go get him, Agumon!"

As their Digivices began to pulsate, the clearing was filled with a blinding light, coming from the two Digimon. It was so bright that Tai had to close his eyes against it. Even then, he could see it, burning red against his eyelids. 

"Gabumon digivolve to . . . Garurumon!" 

"Agumon digivolve to . . . Greymon!" 

Spots danced and dazzled in his field of vision when he reopened his eyes to discover that the two Digimon had been replaced by their champion forms. If Agumon had been a baby Tyrannosaurus Rex, Greymon was the real deal. The orange and blue Digimon stood taller than the trees and wider than a bridge. A metal helmet, complete with horns and spikes, covered his face, and polished fangs jutted out from his gaping mouth. Long of leg and sharp of tooth, Garurumon managed to be equally impressive. Muscles rippled beneath his striped fur with every movement. His head was crested, as were his shoulders. Having Digivolved, the two did not hesitate, but leapt straight into action. 

"Nova Blast!"

"Howling Blaster!" Garurumon joined a stream of blue energy to Agumon's fireball. 

A bemused expression on his face, Myotismon diverted their attacks with a wave of his long, slender hand. They crashed into the ground, digging deep trenches into the soil. Tai braced himself, expecting a counterattack, but none came. 

"I have a surprise for you," Myotismon purred, curling back his red lips in a mockery of a smile. He reached a hand into his cloak and extracted what appeared to be a crest. Where the light of the moon caught it, dull, greasy colours played over its surface in a way that reminded him of a puddle of oil. Feet away from their enemy, Tai could just make out the symbol on it. It was similar to his own, old crest of courage, but the rays that surrounded the concentric circles were pointing inwards. 

__

::What does that mean?::

"It's corrupted . . .It's evil . . . The darkness . . ." Kari moaned and his eyes went hastily to his sister. He felt his stomach lurch when he saw her. She was bent over, clutching her head in her hands as if she were in pain. Sweat glistened on her forehead, making her dark hair seem even darker. Beside her, an obviously worried T.K. was crouched down beside her and was saying something to her, while Yolei was fast making her way towards them. He knew they would protect her for him. He had to deal with Myotismon or they would all be finished. Reluctantly, he turned back from his sister to Myotismon, who was applauding mockingly. 

"What a clever girl you are, Child of Light. You recognise a shadow crest when you see one," he ran a forefinger over it in a kind of caress, "This one is the Crest of Cowardice."

"The Crest of Cowardice?" Davis sounded furious, stepping forward as if to attack the evil Digimon himself, "It suits you, Myotismon! You're a coward for hurting Kari with that thing!"

"My dear boy, I have done nothing to your friend," he paused, malevolent smile widening, "Yet." 

Pointing the crest in Greymon's direction, "Greymon, Darkdigivolve!" 

He had barely finished speaking when liquid darkness began to pour from the sky onto the Digimon. 

"Greymon Darkdigivolve to . . ."

To Tai's horror, his Digimon began to change shape. It was a transformation he had seen only twice in the past - once, when he had forced his Greymon to digivolve by putting himself in danger, and, again, when the Digimon Emperor had used the dark spirals to do the same. Both times in the past, it had caused everything within him freeze and this instance was no exception. Greymon's flesh seemed to fall away in silver gobbets, leaving his bones to shine whitely. Only his heart remained, pulsating and throbbing within his ribcage, while a strangely cunning, green light shone within his eyesockets. 

". . . Skullgreymon!" 

"Matt," Tai turned to his best friend, a wordless appeal in his eyes. There were some things that he could not bring himself to ask, that he could barely bring himself to think. Agumon was more than his partner and his friend. He was a part of Tai himself - a living embodiment of his best qualities, of his courage and his strength. Matt knew as well as he did what he was asking him to do. Slowly, the blond boy nodded, then turned to his Digimon. 

"Garurumon, you know what you have to do," Matt said in an agonised voice.

"Matt, I don't know if I can," his Digimon howled, "Skullgreymon is a ultimate, and I can't digivolve into Weregarurumon without your crest. . . ." 

". . . And you probably can't Digivolve into Metalgarurumon while Agumon is like this," Joe added, a worried expression on his face, "Because of how they came into being, the two are connected." 

Some small part of Tai that was still capable of rational thought remembered the old prophecy. _::And angels will shoot arrows of hope and light into the loved ones of those whom they are sworn to protect and a miracle will happen.::_ He did not pretend to understand or to be able to explain what had happened on that day all those years ago. He had been gripping onto Matt's hand - to make sure that he did not chicken out on him, naturally - when Angewomon's arrow had pierced him. It had felt as if he had been thrust into the middle of the sun. He had burnt in the terrible brilliance of the light. Every cell of his body had been on fire, and it had felt as if molten steel had been running through his veins. Then, the miracle had happened. Agumon had warp-digivolved to Wargreymon, just as Garurumon had become Metalgarurumon. They were connected. The angels had connected them with their gifts. And he was now asking Garurumon to fight him. His fists balled at his side, as tears pricked his eyes. He had no choice._ ::I have no choice. I'm sorry, Garurumon.:: _

"Try, my friend," Matt was saying to Garurumon, as he patted him encouragingly, "I have faith in you." 

With a nod of his shaggy head, the Digimon loped forward to face his opponent. For a wonder, Skullgreymon had not spotted them. It was only a matter of time, however. His head moved from side to side. His beady, green eyes searched the landscape endlessly. Beside him, Myotismon hovered like a curse. 

"He's right, though," Izzy said to them, "One champion won't hold out for long against an ultimate. Someone needs to go back to the Digital World to fetch the other Digimon. Even then, it will be touch-and-go. Back at Etemon's stadium, he crushed all of our Digimon without any difficulty."

"But we didn't have Angemon or Angewomon then," T.K. insisted, "Angel-types are especially strong against dark-types." 

Feeling the same, odd heaviness as before, Tai looked at the younger boy. He had a determined expression on his face. His blue eyes were very bright, and his mouth was set in a straight and angry line. A pale Kari had her head buried in his chest and she was moaning, as if she were in pain. He wanted to comfort her, but did not know what to say or do. He could not find strength for himself, let alone his sister. All of his courage seemed to have disappeared when Greymon had Darkdigivolved.

__

:: It took all of Angemon's energy last time to defeat Devimon, and Skullgreymon is a lot more powerful than he was. Can you lose him again, T.K.? Can Kari lose Angewomon?:: 

"And you didn't have DNA-digivolving," Cody added quietly, "That should be enough to give us an edge." 

"Enough talk," Davis said, punching the palm of his hand, "We gotta go get the other Digimon before Skullgreymon rips this place to pieces." 

"Agreed," Joe nodded his head, evidently seeing that Tai was in no position to take charge of the situation, "Sora, Izzy and I will go to the Digital World to search for them. We'll need Izzy's computer skills to find our partners, while Sora and I can search land and sea respectively. Izzy, can you open a port for us?" 

"You're nuts if you think you're going without me," Davis declared, "You need me." 

"We're coming too," Yolei said, flanked by Cody and Ken, "The Digital World is huge and many hands make light work. What about you, T.K?" 

The blond boy shook his head, "I'm going to stay here and make sure that Kari's okay. Besides, my brother might need me."

"Look after Tai too, while you're at it. And don't worry. We'll find Patamon and Gatomon. They might be our trump-card," Sora said with a slightly stiff smile, "Izzy, how is that portal coming?"

Tai could not share in the other's confidence. His eyes went back to Skullgreymon. The evil Digimon had spotted Garurumon and was lumbering towards him, his bony grin almost malicious. Blue energy streaming from his mouth, Garurumon was hitting him with one unsuccessful attack after another. Skullgreymon did not even flinch as the Howling Blasters connected, but kept striding forwards towards the other Digimon. Howling with frustration, Garurumon leapt at him, only to be swatted away like an insect. Again and again, Matt's Digimon attacked. Again and again, Skullgreymon absorbed them and kept coming. . . . 

And, for almost the first time in his life, Tai Kamiya was afraid. 

*

****

Obnoxious Announcer's Voice: Will Garurumon be able to hold off Skullgreymon for long enough for the Digidestined to gather reinforcements? Or is Myotismon finally going to succeed in conquering both worlds? Find out next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters! 


	4. Fading like a Flower

What's my excuse for this part being so late? It's partially me bruising my head again and again against a nasty writer's block, but it's mainly because this chapter is epic! It's about eight pages on my computer! O.o, I hope you enjoy reading it, because I got caught up in writing it.  
  
Before we begin, however, it's time for another of my famous reader- participation questions. I've been rewatching season two and one of the episodes was called "Run, Yolie, Run." Have I been spelling her dub name wrong for four chapters now? On the same note, it's been irritating doing this part in that respect, because I kept calling the characters by their Japanese names and had to change them back to the English versions. Would it be too confusing if I rewrote the earlier parts with Japanese names?  
  
*  
  
D3.4: Grey Shadows  
  
*  
  
File Island, Digital World  
  
As she stepped through the Digital Gate that connected the two worlds, Yolei let out a little gasp of surprise. In their absence, the Digital World had been washed of all colour! The trees and grass looked sun- bleached, their green having faded to grey. Beneath them, colourless flowers swayed in the breeze. And, in its pale sky, the sun itself was white and strangely dim. She and the other children were the only bright things in the entire place. In their colourful clothes, they stood out against the grey landscape like a rainbow on a cloudy day.  
  
"Tell me I need my eyes tested," she whispered to Ken, whose hand she was still holding.  
  
Violet eyes dark with worry, "You don't. I see the same thing too."  
  
"It has to be the Crest of Cowardice," Izzy said grimly as he came to stand beside them. Irrelevantly, she noticed he was still dressed in the orange t- shirt and blue jeans that he had been wearing in their own world. Her own clothes had changed to the red jodphurs, blue shirt and olive puffer-jacket that she always wore in the Digital World. The older Digidestined's outfits did not seem to change in the transition between worlds. Even T.K. and Kari's clothes remained the same in both the real world and the Digital World. (1) She dismissed the thought with a shrug. It did not help their current crisis, but it was hard not to notice the colours in the dull landscape.  
  
"Crest of Cowardice, Izzy?" Cody was saying. Her friend was standing next to her, his usual, grave expression on his face. It made him seem strangely adult, as did the somber, brown clothes he was wearing. It was easy to forget that he was the youngest of the Digidestined - she had the feeling sometimes that his soul was centuries older than his body.  
  
"Yes," Izzy continued thoughtfully, "I don't see what else it could be. Whatever Myotismon is doing with the Shadow Crests, it is affecting this world too. Moreover, it looks like his actions have also thrown our worlds out of synch again."  
  
"What do you mean by 'out of synch again'?" Yolei asked, "Time in the Digital World has always corresponded with our own, hasn't it?"  
  
"No," Izzy told her, "The first time the eight of us came to the Digital World, it didn't. The months we spent here were only a matter of hours in the real world. Somehow - I'm not sure how - the two worlds aligned themselves. It's been that way until now."  
  
"How do you know that things have changed?" she asked, perplexed.  
  
"It was night-time in our world," he explained, lifting an arm to indicate the dim sun, "It's day here."  
  
"Does that mean we have more time or less to find our Digimon?" Ken asked quietly.  
  
A grim expression on his face, Izzy shook his head.  
  
Yolei's stomach suddenly felt very cold and heavy within her. She had almost forgotten why they had come to the Digital World in the shock of seeing what had happened to it. In this peaceful, if colourless meadow, the battle seemed very distant and unreal. It seemed like something she had seen on television - a late-night, monster movie or a cartoon show. Yet, as they were standing there and talking, Garurumon was fighting for all their lives against Skullgreymon. And Tai, Matt, Kari and T.K. were watching powerlessly and waiting for them to return. If what Ken had suggested was right, it might already be over. . . .  
  
::No, you can't afford to think like that. You can't give up the battle before you even fight it.::  
  
Her fists clenched at her sides.  
  
"In that case, we have to get moving!"  
  
"I agree," Davis said, reemerging from a copse of trees. The first out of the Digital Gate, he had evidently gone ahead to scout out their surroundings and to see if he could find any of their Digimon. In his scarlet and blue jacket, he stood out against the grey backdrop like a flame. "We gotta get our Digimon and get back to our world."  
  
Coming up behind them, Sora said, "If it helps, my Digivice is tracking two of our Digimon only a few feet away from us."  
  
Slipping her free hand into her pocket, Yolei pulled out her own D3 and checked the screen. A pair of blinking dots confirmed what Sora had said. Two of their Digimon were definitely nearby, even though the device did not indicate whose partners they were. Selfishly, she hoped it was Hawkmon. She had not seen her friend for months, since Oikawa's final sacrifice had restored the balance of good and evil. Unfortunately, as they had discovered, it had also closed the gate between the two worlds. As they were no longer needed, they could not travel to the Digital World, nor could their partners travel to the real one. Their parting had been painful. She remembered the empty hollowness within her when she had had to say goodbye to Hawkmon, and the promises that she had made about finding a way to see him again. It was sad that it had taken Myotismon to fulfill them.(2)  
  
"They're just over that rise," Jyou said, glancing up from the gadget in his hands and pointing towards a small, wooded hill to the west of them, "And, if you follow me, I'll lead you to them."  
  
*  
  
Odaiba National Park, Real World  
  
Screaming through the air, the missile flew directly towards Garurumon. The wolf Digimon twisted gracefully in midair to avoid it, before landing lightly on the ground and attacking with another Howling Blaster. The missile ploughed into the ground, throwing up high ridges of dirt and clouds of dust. It sped towards a cluster of trees, where it exploded in a shower of bark chips and burning leaves. All around it, knocked over by its force, trees toppled to the ground with rustling crashes. Garurumon leapt and turned gracefully to avoid them, his silver-blue body a blur of twisting, sinuous motion. However, he was not agile enough, and branch caught him a glancing blow across his backlegs. He fell clumsily and heavily to the ground. For unmeasured seconds, he lay there, sides heaving and breath rasping, before he clambered to his feet and launched himself at Skullgreymon again.  
  
Tai realised with a rush of nausea that Matt's Digimon would not last much longer. He was growing tired. The blue energy, that streamed from his mouth, was beginning to dim. His movements were slightly less quick and sure than they had been. Every time, he avoided Skullgreymon's clumsy swipes by a fraction of a second less. It was only a matter of time before one of the larger Digimon's blows collided with him, and then . . . .  
  
"Tai?"  
  
Hands balling into fists, Tai spun around to face the speaker. He relaxed, however, when he saw it was Matt. He had been so preoccupied with his thoughts that he had not seen his friend coming up to him. Considering their situation, the other boy seemed remarkably calm. His arms were folded across his chest, and his face was expressionless. Only his blue eyes, flickering nervously from Garurumon to Tai and back to Garurumon again, gave any indication of how worried he was.  
  
"Sorry, my nerves are on edge," he said with a weak laugh.  
  
Matt shrugged, "It's cool. I've just been to check on the younger kids. I tried to get Teke to take Kari home - you know, to get them both out of the way before things turned really nasty - but neither of them wanted to listen to me. They told me that we needed them to fight Skullgreymon. Your sister was mad I even suggested it. Honestly? I don't think it matters whether they're here or at home. It'll take a miracle to help us now."  
  
"It's bad, isn't it?"  
  
The other boy said nothing, but his hand found Tai's and tightened around it.  
  
And, together, they watched in silence.  
  
*  
  
File Island, Digital World  
  
"Vee Headbutt!"  
  
As Davis heard his Digimon's shout, his heart gave an odd, painful bound within his chest. Even under the circumstances, it would be more than good to see Veemon again. He was not only his partner, but his best friend. He was the only one who really understood him, who liked him and looked up to him no matter what stupid things he said or did.  
  
"Veemon!" he yelled, breaking into a sprint, "Veemon!"  
  
He stopped short as he crested the hill. Brilliantly blue against the faded landscape, Veemon was hurling himself against what looked like a living shadow. Formless and fluid, the creature slipped around Veemon's attack, before lashing out with a dark tentacle itself. It cut across Veemon's arm, branding it with a thin stripe of red. The little Digimon hissed in pain.  
  
"Veemon!"  
  
"Wormmon!" he heard Ken yell from behind him. Suddenly, Davis became aware of a pathetically small, limp length of green curled up on the ground behind Veemon. Its body was purple-mottled and its two antennae drooped. The grass around it was stained green with the fluid that Wormmon had instead of blood.  
  
Calling out his partner's name again, Ken ran towards his Digimon. Before he could get far, however, Joe grabbed his arm and restrained him. The younger boy struggled to break free, twisting and turning his body like that of a snake, but with little success. Joe's grip on him was simply too strong.  
  
"You can't," the older boy was saying, "It's too dangerous. You'll be hurt."  
  
"Wormmon . . ." Ken's voice was an anguished whisper.  
  
As much as Davis wanted to go to his best friend and comfort him, he knew the best way to help him - and Wormmon - would be to defeat the shadow creature.  
  
"Hey, Veemon," he shouted, "Ready to Digivolve?  
  
"Davis!" Veemon called back happily, "Let's do it!"  
  
Nodding, Davis pulled out his D3 and pointed it at his Digimon.  
  
::Veemon Digivolve to . . .::  
  
As the device began to pulsate, Veemon started to glow as if he were being transformed into pure light. Energy streamed into him, surrounding him with an aura of glory. He grew larger, taller, wider. Blinded by the radiance, Davis had to cover his eyes with his free hand, but he heard his partner's triumphant shout. . . .  
  
::ExVeemon!::  
  
"Yeah! We still got it!" Davis yelled and punched his fist into the air, when he opened his eyes and saw the champion Digimon standing in front of him. Unlike some of the other Digivolutions, ExVeemon was a larger, more imposing version of his rookie form. White, bat-like wings sprouted from his back, and a grey symbol blotched his chest. The horn on his snout had grown long and curved. His bruises and cuts had completely healed too. He grinned at Davis.  
  
"Now to finish the job," he spread his arms wide and the symbol on his chest began to shine, "Vee Laser!"  
  
A ray of brilliant, white light blazed out from his chest towards his opponent. As his laser cut through it, the creature dissipated like grey mist in the morning sun. Davis blinked in surprise. ExVeemon's attacks were powerful, but he had never been able to destroy a Digimon with a single shot in the past. Nor had Davis wanted him to do so now.  
  
::What the heck is going on here?::  
  
"Wormmon," Davis heard Ken whisper. Finally released by Joe, the other boy ran towards his injured Digimon and sunk to his knees beside him. Wormmon stirred slightly when he heard his partner's voice, and his eyes creased in what Davis had come to recognise as a smile. Murmuring comforting words beneath his breath, Ken removed a clean handkerchief from his pocket and daubed gently at his wounds with it. It soon was soaked with the same green fluid that dyed the grass.  
  
"Let me take a look at him," Joe told Ken, kneeling beside the younger boy and unslinging his backpack from his shoulder. From it, he removed a bottle of antiseptic, a number of swabs and several rolls of crepe bandage, "It was a good thing I came prepared. I can't count the times I've need medical supplies in the past, and didn't have them."  
  
Ken nodded, then shifted to one side to allow Joe free access to Wormmon. He kept his hand on his partner's head, though, stroking him and whispering words of reassurance. While the older boy was treating the Digimon, Davis turned back to his partner who had reverted to Veemon in the interim.  
  
"What happened to both of you?"  
  
His partner shook his head, "I don't know. It was the weirdest thing, Davis. Gennai told us to meet him here, so we could talk about why the world had lost all its colour, why the hole had appeared in the sky and what we were going to do about it. Gennai had just sent Agumon and Gabumon to your world to tell you guys about the problems, when we got jumped by these creepy shadows. We managed to kick most of their butts for them, even if Wormmon got hurt badly during the fight, and the rest started running away . . . ."  
  
"So, where are the other Digimon?" Yolei asked eagerly.  
  
"I was just gonna get to that," Veemon sounded irritable, "When they started retreating, Gatomon said we should go after them and find out where they had come from. The others agreed with her. I said I'd hang out with Wormmon to make sure he was okay."  
  
"Good thing you did. I don't think any of us want to think what might have happened to him if you hadn't been around," Sora said warmly, causing Veemon's cheeks to go crimson, "Anyway, can you tell us where our other Digimon have gone? We need to find them and head back to our world. It's pretty urgent too. Myotismon used this crest - I think he called it the Crest of Cowardice - to make Greymon Digivolve to Skullgreymon. Garurumon's holding him off for now, but he isn't going to last long."  
  
All the colour had drained from the little Digimon's cheeks at the sound of Skullgreymon's name. Having faced him and having been easily defeated by him, he knew precisely how dangerous he was.  
  
"They went thataway," he replied, his voice as shaky as the paw he used to indicate the direction, "I hate to leave Wormmon, but I think . . . I think I should Digivolve to Raidramon. Then Davis can ride me and go look for them. It'd be quicker than going on foot."  
  
"I'll come with you too, if you can manage to carry me," Sora said decisively, "Birdramon will help transport the other Digimon back. Besides, if you run into more of the shadows, you might need the extra firepower."  
  
Davis looked dubiously at the older girl. Even though she had made a good case as to why she should be included, he would have preferred to go alone with Raidramon. Extra weight on his Digimon's back would only slow him down, and they needed to find their partners as quickly as possible. Still, the last time he had made that sort of comment to Jun, she had ended up throwing her hairbrush at him and yelling that 'she was NOT fat'!  
  
::I'll never understand girls.::  
  
Pulling out his D-Terminal, "Let's saddle up, Veemon."  
  
*  
  
Chewing his lip, T.K. stared at the battlefield in front of them. Leaping gracefully among the churned-up earth and fallen trees, Garurumon continued to pound Skullgreymon with Howling Blaster after Howling Blaster. And Skullgreymon continued to absorb every attack as if it were little more than a gentle pat. Nothing was working. In spite of his best efforts, he felt tears begin to burn his eyes. He rubbed them away furiously with the back of his hand. He wasn't eight anymore, alone and scared in the Digital World, and tears wouldn't do any of them any good. Besides, he had to be strong for Kari. He couldn't let her see how afraid he was.  
  
"Everything's going to be okay, Kari. Garurumon's doing great. He'll hold SkullGreymon off until the others come back from the Digital World."  
  
Raising a skeptical eyebrow, his best friend replied, "And that's why you got the Crest of Hope, and not Sincerity, T.K.."  
  
He laughed weakly, glad that she was feeling better. The colour had returned to her cheeks, and she had a determined look on her face. He suspected that had everything to do with Myotismon disappearing and taking his Shadow Crest with him. Even though he had also sensed the darkness rippling out from the Crest of Cowardice, like the spread of oil across clear water, it had not had the same effect on him as it had on Kari. (3) It seemed to have physically hurt her, to have sickened her in a way he could not understand.  
  
:: Even though Kari's . . . well, my best friend, there are times when I think I don't know who she is at all. She's . . . different from the rest of us.::  
  
"Hey, guys," Izzy said, coming up to them with his laptop slung under an arm, "I've just got an e-mail from Cody. He says they've found Wormmon and Veemon, and that Davis and Sora have gone after the others. They should be back soon, if that's true."  
  
"It can't be soon enough," Kari said grimly, "We're running out of time."  
  
And, no matter how much he wished it were otherwise, T.K. could only agree with her.  
  
*  
  
NOTELETS:  
  
1. "Older" is obviously used in the loosest sense of the term because T.K. and Kari are both younger than Yolei. And . . . in some episodes, T.K. and Kari's clothes do change. I blame the lazy animators at Toei who want to reuse the standard poses.  
  
2. Obviously, if "A Million Points of Light" is to be believed, this isn't the case. For the sake of my story, however, I'm going to ignore this point of continuity. I hated the episode so I don't feel the slightest bit of guilt. ^.^  
  
3. Of all the Digidestined, T.K. is the one in coda who can sense darkness and evil. There's proof of that in the episode where Kimeramon appears for the first time. Pegasusmon asks him "Can't you feel the evil coming from the whirlpool?" and he replies that he can. None of the other DD remark on it at all. So, T.K. seems to have some special faculty for recognising darkness, just as Kari has the faculty of banishing it. grins It must have to do with them being Hope and Light - the two forces that are the centre of the Digital World. 


	5. Small Victories

__

If anyone truly believes I own Digimon, they have ended up in that odd, alternate dimension where wishes become reality. They should check themselves for Dark Spores as soon as possible. Because we are in the real world, I don't and I am not making any money from these endeavours. The only thing I do get is the satisfaction of presenting a third season that isn't Tamers, and that fixes everything I hated about 02. And I hope you are enjoying seeing what might have happened and what possibly should have happened. ^.^

I should note that it is is a bit AU in places. I have an evil habit of changing things or ignoring things that I think were done poorly. Let me list them! 

1) In this story, Matt and Sora are not yet a couple, because . . . well, how flat was the Sorato in the actual show? One episode, Sora is angsting about revealing her feelings. The next, *poof* they're a couple. And the only reason is given in a Jun flashback. 

2) Most of "A Million Points of Light" did not happen at all. Not everyone and their Uncle Bob has Digimon. That was just stupid. Digidestined\Chosen Children mean anything to anyone? They aren't called "Got Digimon Because of Random Sighting" Children for good reason. And the Digimon could not travel freely between the two worlds after 02. There are other more subtle changes as well. 

3) It isn't Gatomon\Tailmon's Tail Ring that allows Digimon to DNADigivolve\Jogress Evolve. I have no idea from where they got that one. I can even provide two pieces of proof: 1) In Bokura no Wargame, Agumon and Gabumon are able to Jogress evolve to Omnimon. This is years before Tailmon\Gatomon lost her tail ring. 2) In Diablomon Strikes Back, Stingmon and Veemon are still able to become Paildramon, and that takes place a few months after the end of 02 when Tailmon gets her jewelry back =^.^= 

I should also note that this story is not connected in any way with the other series called "d3" written by Max Corn (I think, unless I'm having a MAD Magazine moment?). I didn't know about it when I titled my story. Truth be told, I haven't even read it. Sorry if there was any confusion about that. 

So, without any further ado, I present to you the longest chapter in the history of Digimon writing. On my computer, it runs to something like fourteen pages. And it was written after I watched A Million Pointless Digidestined, so it has gratuitous Takari scenes. O.o 

* * *

****

D3.5: Small Victories

* * *

__

Wrapping her arms around Davis' waist and clinging tightly to Raidramon's sides with her thighs, Sora galloped through the forest. Trees and bushes flowed away on either side, like water in a river, while patches of light rippled and dappled over them as they ran. Over his shoulder, she kept a close watch on Daisuke's D-3. The space between them and the other Digimon was closing by the second, until . . . . 

"Here we are, Raidramon," she yelled, her words swept away by the wind. She felt the Digimon's muscles bunch beneath her legs as he slowed to a halt. Carefully, she dismounted and began to look around herself for the other Digimon. Even though her Digivice said they were almost right on top of them, there was no sign of them. They had to be hiding somewhere in the bushes. 

"Biyomon! Gomamon! Patamon! Gatomon!" she called, cupping her hands around her mouth, "Tentomon! Armadillomon! Hawkmon!"

"Sora!" a familiar, high voice called from the treetops. She looked upwards, grinning as she saw Biyomon perched on a branch, along with Tentomon and Hawkmon. Chirruping happily, Biyomon flew into her arms, while the other two landed on the ground in front of her. At the same time, Gatomon leapt fluidly down from another tree, closely followed by a flapping Patamon, while Armadillomon, Palmon and Gomamon emerged from the undergrowth. 

"What were you doing up there?" she asked Biyomon, "Why were you all hiding? Veemon told us you had gone after the shadowy creatures who jumped you earlier." 

"It was the weirdest thing, Sora," her partner explained, "We were following the shadowy creatures in an attempt to find their base, but they . . . they suddenly disappeared. They just seemed to melt into the rest of the shadows in this forest. We looked for hours for some sort of trail, some sort of clue that would tell us where they had gone, but we didn't have any luck finding one. Anyway, we decided to rest before looking for a way back to the others. It seemed safest to do so out of sight. And you, Sora? I love seeing you again, but why are you and Davis here?"

Quickly, Sora outlined to her and the other Digimon how Myotismon had used the Crest of Cowardice to force Greymon to Darkdigivolve and how they had come to the Digital World to fetch their partners. By the time she had finished, all of their partners had worried expressions on their faces. That was unsurprising. They had all faced Skullgreymon at some stage of their lives, and they all knew precisely how dangerous he was. They also had to be aware that they had never defeated him in their previous encounters. He had always run out of energy and reverted to Agumon in the past, but they had never beaten him. 

"So, we need to get going," she concluded, removing her Digivice from her pocket and pointing it in Biyomon's direction, "Let's travel first class on the way back, Biyomon."

"Hey!" Davis exclaimed from his seat on his Digimon, "Raidramon is first class!" 

Ignoring the boy's indignant comment, Biyomon nodded, "Okay!"

__

::Biyomon Digivolve to . . .::

Flecks of light began to gather around the small, pink Digimon, until she seemed to be surrounded by a swarm of fireflies. When she was almost hidden from sight by them, the light rushed into her suddenly and she began to glow. Knowing it would only get brighter Sora ducked her head in her sleeve. After a few seconds, she heard a deep, triumphant cry, and knew it had been successful.

__

::. . . Birdramon!::

She lifted her head to see the champion form of her partner standing there. If the Phoenix had been a real creature, it would have looked like Birdramon. Taller than the trees and with a wingspan that could blot out the sun, she was a creature of heat and flame. The light blazed off her red-gold feathers, making her seem as if she were on fire. Fine, sharp fangs protruded from the end of her beak, and her claws were talon-tipped. She was one of the most beautiful Digimon that Sora had ever seen, and one of the most dangerous. 

"Climb aboard," Birdramon said, tucking her feet beneath her and lying down on the floor, "If you cling onto my feathers, you won't fall off me. Sora can hang onto my claws." 

With a flick of her tail, Gatomon leapt lightly onto Birdramon's back and fastened her claws around a feather, before motioning for the others to join her. Patamon hopped up beside her, holding on with his stubby feet. Hawkmon and Tentomon soon joined them, as did Palmon, who wrapped her vines snugly around everyone like seatbelts. Sora looked expectantly at the two remaining Digimon. 

"If it's all the same to you, I'll go back with Davis and Raidramon," Gomamon said, wiggling his flippers in front of him, "These flippers weren't made for clinging." 

"Nor were my claws," Armadillomon admitted reluctantly, "Guess I'll join you, Gomamon." 

"Sure," Sora nodded, as Birdramon stood and stretched out her flame-like wings in preparation to take flight, "We'll meet you back in the real world!" 

"Got you," Davis nodded his understanding, helping the remaining two Digimon onto the back of his partner. In her turn, Sora wrapped her arms and legs around Birdramon's scaly legs. Pleasant fear tingled in her stomach, as she felt the rush of wind that meant they were about to leave the ground. Rollercoasters had nothing on this. With a flap of her giant wings and a yelled "hold on tight!", Birdramon took off into the sky. And Sora shrieked in delight.

* * *

"Come on, guys," Izzy muttered, tapping away at his keyboard, "It is not like we've got much time here." 

Glancing up anxiously from the e-mail he was writing to Cody, he felt his stomach clench within him, as if a hand were closing around it. From what he could deduce, Garurumon was only going to be able to hold off Skullgreymon for a few minutes longer. The wolf Digimon was moving with a limp now, and the blue energy coming from his mouth had dimmed to a faint phosphorescence. Skullgreymon, on the other hand, was as fast and as deadly as he had been at the beginning of their battle. 

After a few more sallies, the inevitable happened. Detaching itself from Skullgreymon's back, another organic missile screamed towards Garurumon. This time, however, the Digimon was too slow to avoid it and it hit him full in the side. The invisible hand squeezed Izzy's stomach painfully, and he battled to keep himself from throwing up. He heard the other Digidestined gasp in horror, and Matt cry out his Digimon's name. Clouds of dust flew up in the air, obscuring both Garurumon and Skullgreymon from view. A faint glow was visible through it, however, and, when it cleared, Gabumon was lying on the floor. He was breathing with difficulty and blood matted his fur, but he had not been destroyed. 

"Where are you?" he exclaimed in desperation, looking at the still-closed Digital Gate. 

* * *

"GABUMON!" Matt yelled in anguish, shaking off Tai's hand and running towards his Digimon. He fell to his knees and scooped the bleeding Gabumon up in his arms. Very slowly, Skullgreymon's head turned to face the boy. His eyes swivelled in their sockets and his jaws gaped open, revealing rows of flint-sharp teeth. Cradling Gabumon at his chest, Matt stared defiance at the monster. He knew it was as futile as a moth spitting in the eye of a tiger. Skullgreymon did not care if he died holding his head high or if he died screaming and crying. He was going to die. He, Matt Ishida, was going to die. Instead of the fear he had expected to feel, the thought filled him with an odd numbness. 

"Matt! No!" he heard his younger brother scream, as Skullgreymon dipped his head towards him. Clutching onto Gabumon's warm, damp fur, comforting himself with his steady heartbeat, he closed his eyes, whispered a prayer and prepared to die. He could hear the creak of bone on bone, smell the stink of carrion breath, almost feel the sharp points of bone piercing his skin. He swallowed, willing himself to be strong. Instead of the agony he had expected, however, an explosion boomed above him and a blinding flash burnt red against his eyelids. His eyes snapped open to see Birdramon hovering above the park, as bright as a flame in the darkness. Skullgreymon was also staring at it, a malign curiosity in its green eyes. 

__

::Sora._:: _

"Get away from him!" Sora screamed, her face contorted with fear and anger, "Or I'll get Birdramon to blast you into a million splinters." 

Holding Gabumon tightly against his chest, he scrambled to his feet and ran back towards his friends. They had all returned from the Digital World, and had brought all of their Digimon with them. Most of them had Digivolved to their Champion forms, apart from Patamon who was flapping behind his brother and Palmon who could not become Togemon in Mimi's absence. There had been no time to contact the girl in America. Stingmon also was missing, for reasons that became obvious when he saw Ken was carrying an injured Wormmon.

"You idiot. You absolute idiot," T.K. yelled, "If you ever do something like that again, I'll kill you in Skullgreymon's place!" 

"I couldn't let him hurt Gabumon," Matt said tiredly, "You know what it's like." 

A shadow passed across his brother's clear, blue eyes, "Yeah, I know." 

Smiling tightly at him, Yamato turned to face Sora. For some reason, she looked nervous. Her eyes were fixed on a point slightly in front of his shoes, and she was chewing her bottom lip. Her knuckles around her Digivice were almost white with gripping it. 

"Thanks. I owe you one," he said casually. 

"M-my pleasure, Matt." 

"As much as I hate to break up such tender moments," Izzy remarked, "I don't think I need to remind you that Skullgreymon is still tearing up at the park and that he should be our first priority."

"Yeah," Matt agreed, "Garurumon did his part. Now it's up to the rest of you to finish the job. . . ." 

* * *

"What is it going to take to break through his thick hide?" Davis shouted in frustration as Skullgreymon took yet another of ExVeemon's attacks and responded with a swipe of his claws that sent the blue Digimon flying. Aquilamon and Ikkakumon's efforts met with as much success. Skullgreymon knocked aside Hawk Digimon and Harpoon Torpedo with equal alacrity. Armadillomon, similarly, could not get close enough to him to use his Tail Hammer. As he approached, he was swept aside by a single swing of Skullgreymon's powerful tail. And he seemed to simply absorb both Kabuterimon's Electroshocker and Birdramon's Meteor Wing. Davis clenched his fists at his side. All of their Digimon, attacking him in concert, were having as little effect on the Dark Digimon as Garurumon by himself had had. Skullgreymon looked as if he were unbeatable. 

__

::Imperialdramon would take him down, but Wormmon is too badly injured to Digivolve, so no chance of that. Why aren't the others DNA Digivolving, though? It's our only chance.:: 

Exasperatedly, he ran over to where Yolei was standing with Ken. The two were holding hands, and watching the battle with worried expressions on their faces. Jyou was also there, treating Gabumon's wounds with disinfectant and bandages from his first-aid kit, while a concerned Matt watched. 

"We need Silphymon," he told her without preamble, "Pronto." 

"Speak to Kari," she replied with a shrug, "I asked her, but she said she thought two Digimon could occupy Skullgreymon more effectively than one. I think she's still hoping to keep him contained until he runs out of energy and reverts to Agumon. I don't think she wants to hurt her brother's Digimon if she can avoid it." 

Making an irritated noise at the back of his throat, "What about T.K. and Cody?"

"T.K. wants to keep Angemon in reserve. He's our trump card against Dark Digimon, after all." 

"Great," Davis said sardonically, folding his arms across his chest, "Just great." 

* * *

"Lightning Paw!" Gatomon yelled as she leapt at the skeletal Digimon with her paws outstretched. Her claws grated hideously against the bone of his forearm, leaving deep gouges in it, but he swatted her away as if she had been no more nuisance than a gadfly. Kari felt her stomach turn liquid with fear, as her Digimon flew at speed towards a tree. If she hit it, she would be killed. At the last second, however, Gatomon twisted in the air to spring off the trunk and land lightly on four paws. She shook herself off in disgust, then scampered across to where Kari was standing with T.K.

"We're getting killed out there," she panted. 

"I know I said I wanted to keep you in reserve, but I think it might be the time to use Angemon," T.K. said slowly, "Are you ready, Patamon?" 

"He's too strong," Patamon chirruped from his perch on T.K's hat. The little Digimon had a worried expression on his face, "I don't know if I can beat him, even if I become Angemon." 

Kari nodded in agreement, "Patamon's right. Skullgreymon is an Ultimate. He could even be a Mega for all we know of Dark Digivolutions. Angel-type Digimon might be stronger than usual champions, but they're still champions for all that." 

"And neither of us can reach Ultimate without your crests," Gatomon added with an exasperated hiss, "In other words, we have to come up with another plan." 

"If we can't defeat him, I guess we'll have to restrain him until he runs out of energy," T.K. said decisively, removing his D-Terminal from his jacket pocket. Understanding what he meant, Kari found and snapped open her own. On the screen, she could see the Digiegg of Light revolving slowly. 

"Let's do it, T.K," she said to her friend, as Patamon flapped down from T.K's hand to stand beside Gatomon on the floor. 

"DIGIARMOUR, ENERGIZE!" they yelled in unison. 

__

::Patamon Armour Digivolve to . . .::

::Gatomon Armour Digivolve to . . .::

Even though she had seen it happen often in the past, Kari was never sure exactly how Armour Digivolving worked. The Digiegg rose from the screen, becoming as solid and real as anything laid by a bird. It appeared to crack at that point, opening out into what appeared to be a mechanical suit and moving to fit around the Digimon. Beyond that, she did not know what happened. There was always an odd blur at the exact moment egg and Digimon fused, as if she were looking at it through a veil or through opaque glass. Izzy spoke about the eggs being programs that changed their Digimon's data and reconfigured them into new forms, but that did not adequately explain the mystery for her. She supposed she should have been content with the fact that it worked, because it certainly did. 

__

::Pegasusmon. Flying hope.::

::Nefertimon. The angel of light..::

Kari and T.K. smiled at each other. Of all their Digimon's forms, their Armour Digivolutions were the most like their rookie forms. In keeping with her name, Nefertimon resembled the Egyptian cat goddess about whom Kari had read some years ago. She seemed to recall her being called Bastet or something similar. Her face was certainly as enigmatic and as feline. Two, white ears poked out of her blonde mane, and she had a heavy, golden headdress about her forehead. A matching collar hung around her neck, while large, feathery wings sprouted from her back. Pegasusmon, on the other hand, resembled a long, sleek horse. His mane and tail appeared to be spun of pure gold, matched by his armour. The crest of Hope was etched on his breastplate, while other designs were carved on his greaves. His ears were the same batwings as Patamon had, but another, more useful pair of feathery wings sprouted from his back. 

"You two know what to do," T.K. said with a pat to his Digimon's armoured muzzle. 

"Try not to hurt him," Kari pleaded in turn. 

"We'll try," her Digimon inclined her head in acknowledgement, as Pegasusmon replied, "We know what we have to do." 

Beating his powerful wings, Pegasusmon soared into the eastern half of the sky. Her own white, feathery wings shimmering in the moonlight, Nefertimon flew wide in the opposite direction, before arching round to meet the other Digimon. When the two crossed over, a golden light formed between them, becoming longer and brighter as they parted. Still holding it in balance between them, they wrapped it around the dark Digimon, weaving in and out like Maypole dancers. Skullgreymon struggled within the brilliant noose, but could not break it. After what felt like hours to Kari but was in reality minutes, he began to shrink until only Agumon was lying limply on the floor. Her brother started running towards him. 

"Yes! We did it!" Kari cheered, spontaneously throwing her arms around T.K.'s neck. Laughing, he picked her up off the floor and spun her around. The world turned around her, becoming a crazy blur of trees and rubble and city lights and lake and ploughed-up earth. After dizzy moments, he set her down lightly on the floor. She put a hand to her head to steady herself. Even though she had stopped spinning, it seemed the park had not kept pace with developments. The ruined trees and starry sky seemed to bulge and lurch at her, as if she were standing on the deck of a ship. Her legs felt equally wobbly, stumbling forward of their own accord. She clutched for T.K. as her feet gave way beneath her, but only succeeded bringing him down on top of her. She suddenly realised his face was close enough to hers to kiss her. She could feel his warm breath against her skin, his heartbeat against her chest. Her own breath caught in her throat. Unconsciously, her lips parted a fraction. 

__

::If he kisses me, I won't stop him.:: 

Blushing, T.K. scrambled to his feet and stooped to retrieve his hat which had fallen to the ground when he did. He settled it snugly on his head, before pulling it down at the back so that it was slightly tilted. Staring up at him, she felt her stomach grow hollow with disappointment. 

__

::I can't believe he didn't kiss me. Okay, admittedly, it would be pretty disgraceful under the circumstances. After all, everyone is watching us. Including my brother, who would probably forget that he liked_ T.K. And Davis, who would probably have a nervous breakdown. And Yolei, who would bring up the Kiss-with--a-capital-K in every conversation we have. And I suppose this isn't the first time we've ended up in a monkeypile on the floor.:: _

Lying on the floor beneath the spinning stars, she started to giggle.

"What's so funny, Kari?" he asked, offering her a hand. 

"I'm just thinking we can't seem to get out of landing in a heap after a fight," she grinned, letting herself be pulled to her feet, "And we don't even have the Digital Gate to blame this time!"

"It's tradition. We can't break it now," he smiled, "Come on, let's go check on our brothers." 

* * *

"You'd think they'd been the ones fighting Skullgreymon, and not their Digimon," Hawkmon commented in amusement, inclining his head towards T.K. and Kari and settling his feathers fussily about him, "Humans are strange." 

"Hawkmon, shh!" Yolei scolded, staring after her two friends with a suspicious gleam in her brown eyes. It was the sort of gleam she got when she detected a particularly juicy morsel of gossip. Davis rolled his own. He couldn't believe that Ken had such weird taste in women. On one hand, he was glad he didn't have another rival for Kari's affections. T.K. was bad enough. On the other, he could not understand why anyone as sensible as Ken would date Yolei of his own, free will. 

__

::He must still be punishing himself for his crimes as the Digimon Emperor. That's the only explanation.:: 

He cast a sideways look at his best friend. At the moment, Ken was standing behind Izzy and looking intently at the laptop screen. From time to time, he would say something in a low voice that Davis could not quite catch. It sounded like they were discussing the nature of the Shadow crests from the little he could hear, though. Wormmon was curled up in his arms, his bandages vivid with green fluid. He returned his attention back to his immediate surroundings.

"Besides, I think we've all earned the right to celebrate!" Veemon was saying cheerfully, "I know I'm gonna sink my teeth into a celebratory candybar when I get home!" 

"Why? It's not like there's much to celebrate," Davis said sourly, kicking at the ground,"It's not like we've beaten Myotismon. He'll be back with his Shadow Crest - he might even have more of them - and who knows who will be his next victim?" 

"All of that is true. But, sometimes, you have to take the small victories," Jyou said, coming up from behind him with Gomamon in tow. He placed a hand on the younger boy's shoulder, gently turning him to face Taichi. The older boy was bending over Agumon, cradling the Digimon's head in his lap and stroking it soothingly. Agumon was saying something to him, and Taichi was shaking his head emphatically. Even from a distance, Davis could see he had tears in his eyes. "Sometimes, small victories are all you have." 

* * *

ANNOYING ANNOUNCER: Is Davis right? Will Myotismon return with more Shadow Crests? And who will be their next victim? Find out next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters. 

* * *


	6. Discord

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They're aren't mine, and I'm not making a dime from this story! 

* * *

****

D3.6: LUPERCALIA

"Where's Joe?" Tai asked Izzy as the younger boy squeezed through the crush of people and dropped into the seat next to him with a relieved sigh. The concert hall was crammed to the point of bursting. Everywhere he looked, there was a solid mass of people dressed in black "Teenage Wolves" T-shirts, waving glowsticks and posters above their heads. Some of them had fans with Matt's face on them, while others had scarves with his name on them draped around their necks. (1) According to Matt, the show had been sold out for weeks now. It was a good thing he had given them complimentary tickets. 

"Still on the telephone to Mimi," Izzy replied, a significant note on his voice. Tai raised a knowing eyebrow. Everyone knew that Joe had had a helpless crush on Mimi ever since he had met her. Everyone, that was, except Mimi.

"I wouldn't want to be the one to call her," Tai said with a shiver, "You just know she'll be pissed we didn't get to her sooner." 

"We tried," Sora reminded him, "Her phone was perpetually engaged."

"And her e-mail address kept bouncing."

"And do you think either of those reasons will make a blind bit of difference to an angry Mimi?"

The three friends exchanged glances. 

"Poor Joe."

"Uh huh." 

"Hey! What do you mean by 'poor Joe'?" Palmon asked in an indignant voice, and Tai grinned sheepishly at her. 

With the exception of Wormmon who was still too weak to leave Ken's apartment and Hawkmon who was looking after him - although Tai still thought it was an upsidedown universe where a bird was put in charge of taking care of a worm - all their Digimon had insisted on coming to watch the concert. Naturally, they had put on a variety of highly suspect disguises for the occasion. Palmon herself was dressed in a knitted cap and scarf. Both Agumon and Gabumon were clad in their usual oversized hoodies, while Biyomon was wearing a very frilly, pink dress with a very large, beribboned bonnet. Sora had explained in some embarrassment that it came from one of her old dolls. Patamon was swimming in one of T.K's hats and basketball vests, and Gatomon was little better in a baseball cap and angora sweater. Tentomon, however, made the rest like they had just stepped off a Parisian ramp. He was ensconced in a yellow rain-poncho with a matching hat. Tai wondered what the row sitting behind them made of them, then realised they were dressed a great deal more normally than some of the people who were at the concert. 

"Hey, Tai! Where's your sister?" a very familiar voice asked from behind him. 

"Hey, Gatomon," another equally familiar voice added, earning only a little hiss from the Digimon in question. 

Tai hid his amusement by pretending to tie his shoelaces. Every time Davis Motomiya met him, he asked him the same question. In a way, he felt sorry for the poor kid. It wasn't that he was a bad person. Beneath all the hormones, he was a good kid. He had all sorts of fine qualities like bravery, loyalty and kindness. And he genuinely did want to make his sister happy. In some ways, he reminded Tai of a younger version of himself. It was just that Kari didn't like him as anything more than a friend, and probably never would. Davis was only going to humiliate himself if he carried on trying to convince her to go out with him. Tai wished he could work out whom his sister did like. He was running short of material for teasing her. The whole "You're _his_ girl" routine was growing old. 

"She's backstage, Davis," Gabumon replied helpfully, "I think Matt asked her for her assistance." 

Davis's face fell, "Matt, huh? Then I bet T.S. is with her." 

"Nope, but T.K. is." Patamon chirruped innocently, looking up at the boy from beneath his oversized hat. Davis scowled at him, as he climbed over the row of seats to sit next to Gabumon, and Tai had to stuff his fist in his mouth to keep from laughing. For some reason, Davis had the crazy idea that T.K. and Kari were in love with each other. He kept saying they were fooling nobody with their little game, that he saw right through their 'best friends' act. Of course, it was ridiculous. Them seeing each other would be like him and Matt dating. (3)

"So, where are Joe and Cody?" Sora asked, slipping into her usual role of peace-maker. 

"Cody couldn't come," Izzy replied, "His mother objected to him staying out past his curfew, although his grandfather tried to intervene on his behalf. I am not sure about Joe, however." 

"Miiiiimiiii's probably talking his ear off," Tai winked at his friends, "You know what she's like!" 

"And what's she like?" Palmon asked, a dangerous note in her voice. Her roots were twitching. 

"Heh eh . . . uh, who caught the big game last night?" 

* * *

". . . And Palmon's staying with Sora until we find a way to send her to you," Joe concluded, "Izzy's working on it as we speak." 

"No need," Mimi replied cheerfully, "My family and I are coming to Japan this week. It's my grandparent's fiftieth anniversary, and we're flying out on Thursday to spend it with them. We'll be arriving at the airport at ten. I should be here for most of the holidays! I was going to phone you and tell you tonight, but you got to me first!" 

"That's g-great," he stammered, getting up from the couch and almost tripping over his feet in the process, "I have to go do some homework now, Mimi. Bye." 

Not waiting for her to reply, he clicked the phone back into place on its receiver. He removed a large, white handkerchief from his pocket, and dabbed his sweaty forehead with it. His hands were trembling, and all the muscles in his body felt wobbly. _Smooth move, Joe. She probably thinks you're an idiot now, but what else is new?_

He sunk back into the chair with a groan, burying his head in his knees. He had been in love with Mimi Tachikawa since he had been twelve, but had never been able to work up the courage to tell her how he felt about her. Oh, he had meant to tell her a dozen times. When she had apologised for letting the Gekomon's worship of her get to her head. When he had gone after her in the Digital World. When they had defeated Piedmon. When they had returned home. And especially when he had heard she was going to America. 

Now, he knew it was too late for him. Her letters and e-mails were full of news of Michael - what they had done together, where he had taken her, what he had bought her. It did not take much reading between the lines to be able to tell they were dating. Or much staring in the mirror to tell he could never compete with someone who looked like Michael.

Even when she was a thousand miles away in America, it was not easy to accept that. It hurt him every time he thought about it - a quick, sharp pain in his chest. He did not know how he would handle it when she was back in Odaiba. If his brilliant farewell was any indication, however, it would be badly. 

Somehow, he no longer felt like going to the concert that night. 

* * *

"Remind me never to let your brother talk me into this again," Kari groaned as she collapsed onto one of the crates backstage. T.K. sat next to her, resting his head on his knees and breathing deeply. When Matt had told them he needed their help backstage, it had sounded fun. They would fetch a few drinks, string a few lights, carry a few instruments, then they'd be able to watch the concert from the best seats in the house. Five crates, two sets of drums and a backdrop later, she thought she would have happily settled for a seat in the nosebleed rows. Her arms were aching, her feet were throbbing, and her clothes were soaked with sweat. She had never been so tired in her life. 

"Don't blame me," T.K. straightened up, locking his fingers and stretching his arms out in front of him, "Matt told me that being a Roadie was cool."

She wryly added, "Matt lied." 

Her friend grinned at her, "You don't say. I think he was just lazy to carry his own junk." 

"I can't blame him," she patted the crate on which they were sitting, "What is in these things? Lead?" 

"Beats me," he shrugged, then added with characteristic optimism, "At least we're done." 

"Yes, until we have to lug them back the other way," she couldn't resist adding, making a face.

T.K. laughed and stretched out a hand to ruffle her hair. It was the sort of easy, affectionate gesture that Kari was never sure how to take. Even though it showed he did care about her, it did not mean it was in the way that she wanted him to do so. After all, ruffling her hair was the sort of thing Taichi did. She knew most of the Digidestined saw her as a little sister, and, even though she was months older than he was, there were times when she doubted that TK's feelings for her were any different. _If we had been alone at the park, would he have kissed me? Or would he have gotten up just as quickly? _

She frowned, trying to remember exactly what had happened. The moments after the battle were a giddy blur of excitement and adrenaline in her head. When he had put her down, she had been dizzy and had grabbed for him for support. He had been no more steady and had fallen on top of her. She could see him looking down at her with the oddest expression in his eyes - shock, amusement and something else that might have been love - before he had flushed and had scrambled to his feet. And then . . . She pushed away the memories. Speculating about what might have happened and what might have been was just an easy way to torture herself. She would never know for sure, unless she asked him. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Ken and Yolei standing in the front row. He had his arm around her shoulder, and she was smiling up at him as if he were the only other person in the amphitheatre. Feeling suddenly uneasy, Kari looked away from them. It felt too much like she was intruding on something personal, like she was eavesdropping on a secret conversation. She remembered how scared Yolei had been about telling Ken how she felt about him. Now, it looked like she didn't care who knew. Maybe it was a sign that it was time to get over her own fear. 

Shifting on the crate, she turned back to look at T.K. He was swinging his legs in front of him, and softly humming _I Turn Around_ to himself. His hands drummed out the rhythm on his thighs. In her mind, words fitted themselves to the melody. The song seemed to have been written for them - knowing Yamato, they might have been. _You got a boy, you got a girl, sitting underneath a tree. They sit there every day. And even though you may think this is the way things should be, it may not always be that way. You can't take nothing for granted. . . . _

"You gotta live for the day," she finished in a whisper.

A flush spreading across his cheeks, T.K. stopped humming and smiled ruefully at her: "You can see why it's my brother on that stage and not me, huh?" (1)

Swallowing, "Can I ask you something?"

He nodded. 

"Do you think that there's a chance . . . ." 

A burst of music cut her short, as multicoloured spotlights began to play across the stage. Smoke curled out of other side of it, twisting and twining its way towards them. Where the spots cut through it, it glowed softly in shades of blue and green and purple. The stage looked as if it were draped with veils of rainbow light. Her breath caught in her throat - it was so beautiful. 

  
"Ask me after the concert, okay?" T.K. said apologetically, touching her arm, "I think it's about to start." 

Sighing, Kari settled back on the crate.

* * *

In the back of the amphitheatre, a shadow detached itself from the darkness and sniffed the air. Blood. He could smell its rich, coppery sweetness. In his ears, the thrum and beat of heartsong drowned out the music coming from the stage. He ached to feed. He passed a young woman wearing a low-cut dress, and it took all of his strength not to pounce on her and drain her dry. He could almost feel the heat of her blood in his mouth. He knew it would be as sweet as fine wine.

He hurried past her before the temptation grew too much to bear. After all, there was work to be done before he could eat. He reached a hand within his cloak and extracted a small, rectangular object from it. 

Even in the dim light, it glistened like spilled oil. A symbol was etched into its surface, black lines against the greasy colours. It looked almost like the Crest of Friendship, but there was a chaotic swirl at its centre where the yin-yang should have been. 

Holding the Crest of Enmity out at arm's length, Myotismon murmured: "Gabumon, Dark Digivolve." 

* * *

". . .I turn around, and I see what's behind me." 

As Matt launched into the chorus of the song, his eyes closed and his hands clasped around the microphone, he was aware that the crowd had gone quiet around him. He couldn't even hear Jun Motomiya screaming above the rest. That was weird, a detached part of his mind thought. _Turn Around_ was the Teenage Wolves' signature song, and the crowd usually went wild when he hit the chorus. Usually, he could barely hear himself singing above their screams and shrieks and cheers. He shrugged. Maybe it was time to write a new song. For the moment he could only concentrate on the music, and hope the crowd would warm up to it eventually. 

"Matt," he heard his guitarist hiss, "Matt. You have to look. Something weird is happening." 

"I turn around and I see what's a - he . . ." his voice trailed off, as he opened his eyes and looked out into the crowd. Behind him, the guitar plinked to a stop with a few sour notes. A black spotlight was shining into the audience, picking out a glowing shape. It pulsed and grew in size, almost as if the darkness was feeding it. _Not a spotlight. A Dark Digivolution._ His stomach hollow with fear, he yelled into his microphone, "Clear the auditorium! Quick! Everyone get out!"

In an instant, the silence was broken by panicked screams and by the drumming of feet against the wooden floor. The hall began to empty as people stampeded for the exits. 

Dropping the microphone, he spun to see T.K. and Kari running towards him. His suspicions were confirmed as he saw her - Myotismon had been there with one of the Shadow Crests. She had the grim expression of someone determined not to vomit: her forehead glistened with sweat, and her complexion was almost grey. Angemon glided behind them with Gatomon scampering at his feet. 

And he knew from the look on his brother's face that it was Gabumon at the centre of the black light. Hot, quick anger flooded into him, and his hands clenched into fists at his side. _When I get my hands on Myotismon . . . . _

"It's him this time, isn't it?" 

"It was," his younger brother replied in a quiet voice. Slowly, Matt turned back to the empty auditorium. The black light had vanished, leaving a creature hunched where it had been. In the gloom, it was nothing more than a dark, tight bunching of muscle and sinew. He did not want to wait for it to rise so he could examine it more carefully.

"We have to get out of here before he sees us," Gatomon echoed his thoughts. 

"Yep. The others have regrouped outside," Kari said, checking her D3, "Tai says we should join them as soon as possible." 

"What about Gabumon? Or whoever he is now?" T.K. demanded, "Do we fight him?" 

"We don't want to fight him where he can bring the roof down on our heads," she replied. 

"Kari is right, T.K," Angemon agreed, "There will be less damage if the battle takes place in the open." 

"It'll be safer to go out the band's entrance," Matt told them, "Follow me, all of you." 

* * *

"I can't believe Myotismon ruined our first date," Yolei grumbled to Ken, as they stood outside in the parking lot. He gave her a tight smile, then turned back to look at the auditorium. Light flickered across his face, casting long shadows behind him, as the Digimon around them evolved to their champion forms one by one. For the first time that night, she wished she had Hawkmon with her. With Myotismon on the prowl, it had seemed a good idea to leave him to protect Wormmon. That, and it wouldn't exactly have been romantic to have her partner tagging along on her date. _So much for romance!_ she thought sourly, _Stupid Myotismon. _

"Glad to know you've got your priorities straight," Davis said sarcastically, turning away from ExVeemon to look at her, "Kari's still in there with that monster, you know." 

Yolei opened her mouth to reply that 'she had T.K. to look after her, didn't she?', but froze as a howl echoed from within the auditorium. It was the cry of a hunter who had spotted its prey. Suddenly, one of the auditorium's walls exploded outwards, spraying stone and glass across the parking lot. Silhouetted by flames, a creature leapt out of the hole and began loping towards them. As it drew nearer, Yolei could see that it was a long, slim wolf of a Digimon. Its eyes glowed yellow in its face, and it looked almost as if it were covered in fine wires, each strand as sharp and bright as a needle. The firelight glittered off its coat. It opened its mouth to howl again, revealing slender, pointed teeth. 

"That's Luperkalimon," Kabuterimon whirred, "We're in for it now." (4)

"Luperkalimon?" Izzy repeated. 

"Yes," Ankylomon replied, "But I always thought he was a legendary Digimon." 

"He looks pretty real to me," Sora said with a shiver. 

"Nothing we can't handle," Tai's hands clenched into fists at his sides, "Let's do this."

On Tai's cue, the four Digimon began to move towards the enemy. 

Luperkalimon lifted his head and growled in response, then, with shocking speed, leapt for Kabuterimon and knocked him out of the air. The two crashed into the asphalt, the dark Digimon's paws planted on his chest. His needle-like teeth flashed in the light, as they closed around his throat. Yolei heard Izzy make a strangled sound behind her, almost as if he were the one being attacked. Kabuterimon struggled, trying to shake him loose, but his grip was too strong. She had the awful feeling that he would have to drop down dead before Luperkalimon would let him go. And, if it had not been for his thick carapace, that would have been a minute ago.

"Get him off, Birdramon!" Sora yelled, just as Tai ordered Greymon to attack with all his strength. ExVeemon joined the assault with a Vee Laser of his own, the white light scything through the air towards the Dark Digimon. Slowly, the dust and smoke dissipated to reveal Luperkalimon standing on top of a motionless Tentomon.

"TENTOMON! NO!" Izzy began running towards his Digimon, although he must have known he had no chance of reaching them in time or of stopping Luperkalimon when he did. He lifted his head to howl again, then stooped to finish his prey. . . . 

"ANGEL'S STAFF!" 

The entire parking-lot was lit in an instant, as a ray of brilliant, golden light sped from the sky towards the dark Digimon.

As the attack connected with him, Luperkalimon yelped and released his grip, then scrambled backwards to snarl at his enemy. Blinking at the sudden brightness, Yolei looked up to see Angemon hovering above the parking lot and the knot in her stomach loosened in an instant. His six, white wings curved around him, like a blessing. He held a golden rod in his hands, inscribed from top to bottom with intricate symbols. The end still glowed slightly. The three others stood beneath him, and T.K. had a hand on his brother's shoulder. Matt's face was hard, and his blue eyes glittered. He looked almost as dangerous as Luperkalimon, Yolei thought. A little way in front of the humans, Gatomon stood protectively with claws outstretched and a snarl on her kittenish face.

"Angemon," Tai called, "Can you defeat him?"

Slowly, the Angel Digimon shook his head, replying in a voice that was the chime of cathedral bells, "He is still too strong for me alone. If the others weaken him, however, I shall cleanse him of his darkness." (5)

"You heard Wings," ExVeemon said gruffly, "Let's finish this." 

As the three Digimon rushed towards Luperkalimon, Yolei had a feeling that the battle wasn't finished by a long way . . . . 

* * *

**__**

ANNOYING NARRATOR: Will the Digimon be able to defeat Luperkalimon or will he prove too strong even for Angemon's powers? Find out next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters! 

* * *

****

NOTES:

(1) I wish I was making this up. In the Christmas episode, Jun Motomiya has a white scarf with Yamato's name on it in katakana.

(2) I've never heard T.K's VA sing. I have heard Takeru's seiyuu, however, and . . . well, Yamamoto Taisuke isn't bad on hard rock, but is absolutely awful on ballads. 

(3) Before people whinge, I support Taito. Heck, I support any coupling with an Ishida and a Yagami. As a matter of fact, I'm working on a Taito at the moment for your reading pleasure.

(4) Luperkalimon. From the Lupercalia, which was a huge festival in Rome. 

(5) I had a Frontier moment there. Whenever Takuya scans a Digicode he goes, "My Digivice will cleanse this devil's spirit of darkness." 

* * *


	7. The Wolf of Enmity

_They still don't belong to me, and I'm still not making any money from them. The only repayment I seek is your enjoyment and, ideally, your reviews._

_*** _

D3.7: THE WOLF OF ENMITY 

When she thought back over the events of the night and her reaction to them, Yolei Inoue had the distinct impression that she was a bad person. 

Myotismon had obviously discovered another Shadow Crest, the counterpart to Matt's Crest of Friendship, because Gabumon had suddenly Dark Digivolved to Luperkalimon in the middle of the _Teen-Age Wolves' concert. In turn, __he had wrecked the auditorium, and with ruthless efficiency demolished any Digimon whom they had sent after him. He would have killed Kabuterimon if it had not been for Angemon's last-minute intervention. He could still kill any one of them. _

Yet, with everything that had happened around her, all she was aware of was the warmth of Ken's arm around her shoulder, the sweetness of his breath on the back of her neck, the fizzy feeling he gave her in the pit of her stomach. While everything was falling apart around her, she couldn't think of anything else except how glad she was that he was hers.

_::Yep, definitely a bad person.:: _

Ken must have interpreted her guilty expression as one of worry or fear, because she felt his arm tighten slightly, protectively around her, "I know they can do this, Yolei. They won't let Luperkalimon win."

She snuggled into his side, "Yeah, but he might not let himself be stopped." 

Her boyfriend did not reply, and she knew he was less sure than he pretended. He could see as well as she could that the Digimons' attacks were having very little effect on Luperkalimon. They only needed to weaken him for Angemon to purify him of his darkness, but even that seemed like a faint and distant hope. They had been pounding him with their most powerful attacks, yet he was in as good condition as he had been when he had first leapt out of the auditorium. He seemed to absorb everything they threw at him. He hadn't even lost his balance once. 

As she was looking, ExVeemon let fly with another VeeLaser, hitting Luperkalimon full on the side. Unfazed by it, the Dark Digimon snorted his contempt and leapt at Davis' partner, catching him in the stomach with his snout. ExVeemon doubled over with a winded puff. Luperkalimon opened his jaws to finish him, but Greymon came charging towards them and, lowering his head, knocked the Wolf Digimon flying. He twisted in the air and landed on his feet, before loping towards his attacker again as if nothing had happened to him. 

_::Nothing we do is working. There's no way of stopping him. . . .::_

Sudden tears prickled in Yolei's eyes, and, unable to watch any more of the battle, she hid her face in Ken's chest. 

*

"While the others occupy Luperkalimon, we need to get Tentomon to safety," Kari looked down to where her partner was standing at her feet. She had a scowl on her face, showing the pink inside of her mouth and her sharp teeth, and her unsheathed claws glinted bright as needles, "Gatomon, can you do it?" 

She nodded her head, "I'm on it." 

"I shall cover you," Angemon assured her, gripping his staff tightly between his hands and holding it poised to strike. Gatomon nodded her head at him, then dropped to all fours and scampered lightly across the lot in Tentomon's direction. Kari's stomach tightened painfully within her. Even though she knew that Gatomon was on the Champion-level and was more than capable of defending herself, her partner looked so small and fragile in comparison to the Dark Digimon; a kitten to Luperkalimon's feral wolf. All it would take was one snap of his jaws, one swipe of his paws, and . . . . Despite the sticky warmth of the Tokyo evening, Kari went cold. 

"I will not allow harm to come to her, Kari," Angemon said from above her, evidently reading her fear from the expression on her face, "I swear you will not lose her."

She gave him a weak smile, "Thanks." 

Reassured by the angel's words, Kari turned back to watch her Digimon sprinting across the tarmac. She never ceased to be amazed at how graceful and agile Gatomon really was. She leapt easily over a pile of rubble, ducked under Greymon's legs, twisted through the barrage of lasers and fireballs, evaded Luperkalimon's half-hearted swat at her, and scooped up Tentomon without pausing for a second. Even on two paws, she was one fluid movement, one white streak of speed.

_::What was I worried about? Luperkalimon never had a chance of catching her!::_

Panting slightly, Gatomon slowed to a halt in front of Izzy and held Tentomon out to him. The boy stared at them for a long time, with a strangely blank look on his face that scared Kari, then two, silent tears trickled down his cheeks. She had never seen Izzy cry, but he was crying now. He stretched out his arms to take his Digimon and hugged him tightly to his chest. Embarrassed to witness such a private moment, she averted her eyes.

_::At least something went right tonight . . . :: _

*

"This isn't working," Tai punched the palm of his hand in frustration, "We've got to try something different, something extreme." 

"Like what?" Davis asked, "We need more firepower, but we aren't going to get that soon. With only half our Digimon here, we can't DNA-digivolve." 

"Yeah, we're going to have to use what we've got here," Tai rubbed his chin thoughtfully, looking at the Digimon fighting in front of him. The sight disturbed him more than he could express. Even though he knew what Luperkalimon had done to Tentomon and knew he would do the same to the rest of them in a heartbeat, a part of him couldn't help still thinking that he had sworn never to make Agumon fight Gabumon again after their battle so many years ago. Now, Greymon was grappling with Luperkalimon, powerful muscles rippling beneath his blue-streaked skin. The wolf Digimon was on his back haunches, his front paws planted on Greymon's chest. It was almost like they were locked into a deadly dance, moving backwards and forwards, neither of them gaining the advantage. Eventually, however, the balance broke and the two fell back to circle each other again. Tai's eyes went upwards to the bright angel hovering over the battle, an unnaturally serene expression on his face, "And Angemon's out, because he'll need most of his power to turn Luperkalimon back into Gabumon. That leaves ExVeemon, Greymon, Gatomon and Birdramon." 

"It's not enough," Davis told him, "They've been hitting him with everything they've got, and he's not even dented." 

"So we know the direct assault won't work," Tai tapped the side of his head with a crooked finger, "We need to hit him another way." 

"If you'll excuse the interruption," Ken said from behind them. As one, Tai and Davis turned to face him. He still had one arm around Yolei's shoulder, her head hidden in his chest, and a thoughtful look in his dusk-violet eyes. He tilted his head in a slight, polite bow of acknowledgement, "I believe I may have an idea . . . ." 

*

"This is a nightmare," Sora Takenouchi told herself, "Any minute, you'll wake up and find yourself in bed. Any minute, your mom will come through to see why you are screaming in your sleep." 

Unfortunately, for her words, her senses told her that the scene unfolding in front of her was all too real. The fire casting weird shadows across the lot. The crunch of the loose gravel beneath her feet. The feral howl Luperkalimon lifted to the sky. The flash of light off his silver body. The acrid stench of the smoke pouring from the concert hall. 

And Matt's pain was too real. He was staring at his Digimon with such a strange mixture of fierceness and helplessness on his face. If it hadn't been impossible, if the Dark Digimon had not been between them, she would have gone up to him and put her arms around him. 

As she was watching, however, T.K. stepped up to Matt. The young boy had a worried expression on his face. He closed his hand around his brother's, and said something to him in a low voice. His efforts were rewarded with a tight smile. 

"Sora?" Tai said from behind her, a hesitant note in his voice, "Ask Birdramon to grab Luperkalimon and take him up really, really high, then drop him." 

Not taking her eyes off the two brothers or really listening to what her best friend was saying, Sora nodded her head, "Birdramon, you heard what he said. Do it." 

Her partner screamed her understanding from above her. Strong winds blew Sora's hair into her eyes, as Birdramon set her wings. Blazing against the dark sky like a comet, she swooped towards the ground and snatched up Luperkalimon. Her talons screeched against the metal needles that were his fur. Twisting in her grip, Luperkalimon growled and snapped at her claws. Most of the bites were wild, his jaws closing around nothing but air, but some connected with her Digimon. Nausea filled Sora at the sight of fresh, red blood staining his coat. Despite her wounds, however, Birdramon continued to spiral high into the sky, growing smaller and smaller until she vanished against the backdrop of stars. 

After what felt like hours to an anxious Sora, a shriek like a hunting hawk's tore through the silence. Birdramon was ready to put their plan into action. Suddenly, the moonlight flashed off a streamlined, silver body that was speeding towards earth at a shocking rate, and she realised with a sickening jolt exactly what Tai had said to her.  'Take him up high, then let him drop.' As he fell, Luperkalimon whimpered and scrabbled against the air with his paws. He looked and sounded more like a lost puppy than the deadly, Dark Digimon who had almost torn out Kabuterimon's throat. Across the parking lot, Matt hid his eyes with his hand. 

_::Luperkalimon can't survive that fall! He can't! Did I agree to let them do this? If Gabumon dies, it'll be . . . It'll be all my fault.::_

The ground shook with his impact. Dust rose in great clouds around them, causing her to coughed and her eyes to sting. Luperkalimon's momentum had carried him through the tarmac, creating a crater, hiding him from view. No-one moved to check, no-one wanted to know. Sora wasn't sure which would be worse: the Digimon surviving his fall or him being killed by it. She felt sick, as minutes seemed to stretch into hours and the dust started to clear. She couldn't imagine what Matt was feeling. She couldn't even look at the boy she loved. Suddenly, she saw movement where Luperkalimon had fallen. Shaking his head, he crawled out of the hole and snarled his contempt of their maneouvre. __

"Impossible," she whispered, just as Davis yelled, "Hit him with everything you've got." 

Rising into the air, ExVeemon crossed his arms then unfolded them to unleash his laser. A beam of brilliant light arced through the air towards Luperkalimon. Following his lead, Greymon and Birdramon attacked with fireballs of their own. All three hit him simultaneously, exploding into light and noise. Luperkalimon staggered slightly, taking a step or two backwards, but he did not fall. A white streak, Gatomon leapt at him and slashed his face with a claw. He howled in pain and snapped at her, but she was too fast for him. She was already standing in front of Kari by the time his jaws closed.

"Now would be a good time, T.K!" Tai shouted. The younger boy nodded, then looked up to where Angemon was hovering above him on bright wings. He said something quiet to his Digimon that Sora was not able to hear. Then, Angemon raised his staff to heaven, and pure, honey-coloured light began to pour down into it. Just looking at it was enough to make her feel warm and safe and loved, to make her believe that everything would turn out for the best. 

_::The light of hope.:: _

Slowly, Angemon lowered his shining weapon until it was pointing at the Dark Digimon. Luperkalimon snarled in pain and anger and fear, before launching himself at him. 

"Angelic exorcism!"

A beam of light burst from the staff to engulf Luperkalimon in the middle of his leap. The Digimon began to glow, silver-steel fur becoming pure gold in a moment. He became a star, then a sun. Sora had to shut her eyes against his brilliance, or else risk being blinded. When the light faded, Gabumon was lying on the ground. His fur robe was ragged and blackened in places, but he was otherwise unharmed. His sides rose and fell to an even rhythm, and there were no signs of any wounds.  

As Angemon sunk to the ground and himself changed back into Patamon, Matt ran forward to scoop up his Digimon in his arms. Tears were openly running down his cheeks, and he buried his face in Gabumon's fur to hide them. 

"Gabumon . . . Gabumon . . . Gabumon . . . ." 

Feeling like an eavesdropper on some moment too private to be observed, Sora turned away from them to where Tai was standing and talking with Davis. 

"We're going to get our asses whipped if we don't do something extreme," the younger boy was saying, "We barely beat Skullgreymon or Luperkalimon, so what will we do if Myotismon makes them both Dark Digivolve at the same time?" 

"Much as I hate to say it, I don't know if we can take two of 'em," V-Mon added in support of his partner, and the other Digimon nodded their heads in agreement. 

"Or what happens when he finds the next Shadow Crest?" Ken interjected from where he was standing with an arm around Yolei's shoulder. The purple-haired girl's eyes were red and wet with tears, and she was rubbing them with a hand. She gave an embarrassed, little sniffle. Sora smiled reassuringly at her, before turning her attention back to what everyone was saying.

"Or what if it's Gatomon or Patamon?" Kari added, as she ran up to join them, "They're angels with our normal crests, so logically . . . ." 

She trailed off with a little shiver, wrapping her arms around herself. Everyone's eyes went to Gatomon at her feet and Patamon on his usual perch on T.K.'s head. 

"I _do not want to have to face Devimon or LadyDevimon again," Tai said emphatically, "Once was more than enough. But what Kari said gave me an idea about what we have to do," he looked around his circle of friends, a determined expression in his chocolate-brown eyes, "We need to defeat Myotismon and Davis is right that we need more firepower to do that. And that means we need our crests." _

*

OVERPAID NARRATOR: Whom will Myotismon strike next? And how are the Digidestined going to go about getting their crests? Find out next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters! 


	8. Dark Reunion

D3.8: DARK REUNION  
  
"Where is she?" Yolei fussed, as she scanned the crowds at the airport for Mimi. She was holding a sign above her head on which "WELCOME HOME, MIMI!" was printed in glittery, pink letters. Kari, Izzy and Sora were standing beside her and holding bunches of helium balloons, although the younger girl looked less than excited. She couldn't understand it - it was almost as if Kari wasn't looking forward to seeing Mimi again. Dressed in their usual, dodgy disguises, their Digimon stood at their feet, and Palmon's radiant smile more than made up for any lack of enthusiasm on Kari's part.  
  
Suddenly, she spotted her friend coming out one of the gateways and sighed in admiration. Only Mimi could come off a planetrip of hours looking like she had just stepped out of a beauty salon. Her friend's candy-floss pink hair was twisted back into an bun, and held in place with a butterfly clip. Her clothes were equally elegant: she was wearing a lilac, sleeveless poloneck and a short, black skirt with strappy sandals to match. Mimi was the most stylish person Yolei knew, and she never failed to live up to her expectations.  
  
"Miiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiii," she called, waving her sign above her head and jumping up and down, "We're over here."  
  
"MIMI! MIMI! MIMI!" Palmon added her voice to Yolei's.  
  
The girl paused, turning her head to look at them, and a brilliant smile spread across her lips. Quickly saying something to her parents, she dropped her bags to the ground and ran to throw her arms around a leaping Palmon. And, if the Digimon's smile had been blissful before, it was ecstatic now.  
  
"You came!" she squealed, "You are the best friends ever! And Palmon too! I'm the luckiest . . ." she trailed off in mid-sentence, taking a step backwards to look at them, a frown coming to her pretty face, "But where is everyone else?"  
  
"Tai and Davis have soccer training this morning," Kari replied with an apologetic smile, "And Matt and T.K. have some sort of family thing, because it's their cousin's birthday today. The Teen-Age Wolves are providing the music. I'm not sure about the others, though."  
  
"Joe informed me that he was not feeling well, and to give you his apologies," Izzy added, clearing his throat nervously.  
  
Yolei looked at him suspiciously. Joe had sounded fine when she had phoned him the previous evening to tell him that they were planning to meet Mimi at the airport. And he had seemed anxious when he had called her to tell her that Mimi was back in town. At the time, she had dismissed it as Joe always being anxious about something or other, but it seemed to take on a more sinister significance now. Was he pretending to be sick to avoid having to see her? She couldn't see him faking it, not when it came to Mimi. According to T.K., who was the unashamed source of all her gossip about the original Digidestined, the two of them had always been close. She shrugged.  
  
::He probably did get a bug overnight.::  
  
"Cody has Kendo, and Ken didn't want to leave Wormmon by himself," she finished for them, feeling her cheeks grow warm as she mentioned her boyfriend's name, "Did you know that Ken and I are dating now, Mimi?"  
  
"REALLY?" Mimi clasped her hands in front of her, "That's the coolest, Yolei! He's such a cutie!"  
  
"What about you and Michael?" Yolei asked, "He's gorgeous as well."  
  
She laughed, "Well, you know my Michael . . . "  
  
*  
  
As the two girls continued to swop stories about their boyfriends, Sora allowed herself to drop a little way behind them along with Izzy, Kari and their three Digimon. Once the two of them got started on the subject of boys, she knew it would be a long time before they got off it again. Boys were more than an interest for Mimi and Yolei; they were an all-consuming passion.  
  
She had never gotten it until she had fallen in love with Matt. She had never expected that to happen. She had always thought it would be Tai. They had the most in common, and she had even had the beginnings of a crush on him when they had been younger. She remembered hours of sitting by the phone and waiting for him to call, his gift of hairclips safely hidden beneath her hat. As time had passed, however, she realised they would only ever be best friends. She thought of him like a brother, not like a boyfriend. And then she had started thinking more and more of Matt. She did not understand why she wanted to be with him, why she loved him. There were the obvious reasons - he was gorgeous, he was talented, he was sweet - but she knew it was none of those. The heart had its own mysterious reasons that reason could not explain. (1)  
  
She wished there was someone with whom she could talk about it. Apart from Mimi and Kari, all her closest friends were guys. Mimi, incorrigible gossip that she was, was out of the question. It would take her all of three seconds to spread the news around their group. Besides, she would inevitably return to America and her feelings for Matt weren't something she could set down in an e-mail or explain over the phone. It was something that had to be whispered at a midnight sleepover, or over ice-creams at a kitchen table. And Kari was Tai's sister, who would never understand why she had chosen Matt instead of him. Or would she?  
  
A thoughtful expression on her face, Sora looked at the younger girl who was walking a little way in front of her and laughing over something with Gatomon. The other night in the park, she had been sure that there had been something going on between T.K. and Kari when they had been lying on the floor. There had been something in the way she had lifted her head ever so slightly to him, the way he had hesitated just a fraction too long to get to his feet, the way they had both been blushing when they did. On their way home, she had mentioned that to Tai, who had only laughed and replied that she was getting as bad as Davis. Maybe she was seeing something that wasn't there, maybe they were just best of friends, but . . . she had a feeling Kari might understand what it was like to be in love with an Ishida, even if hers was sunshine to Matt's storm-clouds.  
  
Occupied with her own thoughts, she walked along the street in silence, half-listening to them chatter, occasionally trading amused glances with Biyomon at their friends' conversation.  
  
"Hey, Izzy," Kari turned from Gatomon to look at the older boy, "Have you made any progress with finding out how we can get back our crests?"  
  
He nodded, "After I got back from the concert hall last night, I sent an e- mail to Gennai. He replied almost immediately, saying that he would meet all of us in the usual spot in the Digital World tomorrow. It's a good thing that Mimi's come back from America, actually."  
  
"So he tells you we can get them back?" Gatomon said longingly. Biyomon echoed her sentiments with a wistful sigh. Sora gave her a sympathetic smile. Necessary as it had been to give up their crests for the protection and the preservation of the Digital World, she knew it had been hard on their partners. It had meant giving up a part of themselves - perhaps the strongest, truest part - without knowing if they would ever get it back. For Biyomon's sake as much as for the sake of defeating Myotismon, she hoped they would.  
  
"That would be the logical conclusion," Izzy replied, "But, if not, remember how we managed to make our Digimon evolve without our crests when we faced Apokalimon, how they were no longer needed because their power was in our hearts? We still have those qualities, and we will find a way of using them to make you Digivolve, no matter what happens with our crests."  
  
"And what about us?" Hawkmon asked suddenly, as he came flapping to join them, "Will I be able to digivolve beyond Aquilamon? And will Veemon and Armadimon?"  
  
Izzy's gaze slid to the pavement and Sora could see he didn't want to answer the question, "I know Wormmon will, because Ken had the Crest of Kindness. But the rest of you . . . Your partners never had crests. I'm sorry."  
  
"But they did have Digimentals, like Yolei has the Digimentals of Love and Sincerity," Kari argued, "That has to count for something, doesn't it?"  
  
"That might be the problem," Izzy replied, "Think about it, Kari. We all got our crests, because they represented our strongest quality at the time. I know it's a bit more complicated in your case and T.K.'s, but you still essentially got your crests because the Digital World saw Light and Hope in the two of you. But how can you have two strongest qualities, like Yolei has Love and Sincerity? It's an oxymoron."  
  
"A what-moron?" Biyomon chirruped, "Are you calling Kari a moron?"  
  
"An oxymoron is a paradoxical statement," Izzy saw the blank look on the Digimon's face and added, "It's a statement that contradicts itself. It'd be like saying I like bananas best of all fruit, but I also like oranges best."  
  
"But I like bananas as much as I like oranges," Hawkmon insisted, "I do not understand your point, Izzy."  
  
"Never mind," the boy sighed, "My speculation could be wrong. We'll see what Gennai says tomorrow. Just so you know, we're all meeting at Matt's apartment in the morning."  
  
"The disaster zone?" Kari laughed, "I'll tell Tai to pack his telescope."  
  
"And Mimi's compass might be useful as well," Gatomon added wryly.  
  
"Kari! Gatomon!" Sora exclaimed, "That's not nice! You know things aren't easy for them. Mr Ishida works long hours, and Matt's busy with his band too."  
  
"Sorry," the younger girl smiled apologetically at her, "But I am just using T.K's name for their apartment, you know."  
  
"Well . . . he could be more understanding too."  
  
Kari gave her a puzzled frown, then shrugged and ran to catch up with Izzy. The two of them started chatting about how good it would be see to the Digital World, interrupted at regular intervals by Tentomon and Gatomon.  
  
Sora felt the blood rise to her cheeks, and ducked her head to hide her embarrassment. What had gotten into her? Why had she snapped at Kari like that for what she had said? There had been no malice behind it. The younger girl had just been making the sort of wisecrack that their group made all the time. She had heard T.K. teasing Matt dozens of times about having to fight his way through the piles of junk to get to his room. At which point, Matt had usually handed his younger brother his famous pink apron and told him to get busy. Kari's joking had been no big deal, but she had jumped on her as if she had said the worst thing in the world.  
  
Sora let out a little groan. She had never expected love to be this embarrassing.  
  
"What's wrong, Sora?" Biyomon chirped.  
  
"Nothing. It's nothing."  
  
Preoccupied with her own thoughts, only half-listening to the others chat, she continued down the road in silence. They were passing a dark alleyway, when Kari suddenly stopped and turned to look down a dark alleyway. She had a strange look on her pretty face. Her nose was crinkled at its bridge; her lips were a tight line. Her own muscles tensing, her fists clenching at her sides, Sora followed her gaze, but there was nothing in the alleyway.  
  
"Are you okay?" Gatomon asked.  
  
"Fine," the younger girl replied, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, "I thought I could feel something, but it must have just been my imagination."  
  
"With everything that has been happening lately, I'm not surprised you're jumpy," Sora said kindly. It was the least she could say after leaping on her earlier.  
  
"I know I'm as jumpy as a cricket on a hot stove," Tentomon quipped to everyone's groans.  
  
As Kari opened her mouth to reply, her face twisted and she collapsed onto the sidewalk.  
  
"Kari!" Gatomon scampered across to her fallen partner. Sora dropped to her knees beside them, feeling her neck for a pulse. Her heart was racing, and her breathing was shallow and rapid. Her skin was warm and clammy to the touch as well. Sora looked up at Izzy in horror, "But she's not meant to get sick like this anymore. Tai said she'd grown out of it."  
  
By now, Mimi and Yolei had realised something was wrong and had run back to join them.  
  
"Kari!" Mimi exclaimed, just as Yolei asked, "What's wrong? Kari?"  
  
"We must get to her a hospital," Izzy bent to scoop her up in his arms. Her legs and arms dangled down loosely, and her face was white and glistened with sweat, "There's one a few blocks away from here. I'll carry her. Yolei, try and get through to Tai or her parents," he looked down at the limp girl, a worried expression on his face, and his voice, when he spoke, was urgent, "Kari, can you hear me? Kari, wake up . . . . "  
  
*  
  
"Kari, can you hear me? Kari, wake up . . ."  
  
"Unnn . . . ."  
  
Slowly, Kari opened one eye to see Izzy looking down at her, his face hazy and obscured by spots of dancing light. He was carrying her - she could feel his arms beneath his knees and shoulders - and she knew she must have fainted. Her head still ached, and she felt like she was going to be sick. Wincing, she put a hand to her forehead. It was hot and damp. The last time she had felt like this . . . . The last time she had felt like this had been at the Teen-Age Wolves' concert when Gabumon had Dark Digivolved. Her eyes widened in horror, as she realised what must be happening.  
  
"Thank goodness you're awake," Izzy said emphatically, "We're getting you to a hospital, and Yolei's going to call your family when we arrive there."  
  
"You're okay, Kari," Gatomon added, relief in her voice.  
  
"No . . . ."  
  
Field of vision clearing, she looked backwards over Izzy's shoulder to see Myotismon standing there. He was holding a small, glistening object in his hands, and she recognised it immediately as a Shadow Crest. His lips curled back to reveal white, pointed teeth, then he mouthed very slowly so that she could read every word: "Child of Light, guess what I have here . . . ."  
  
"Izzy, put me down," she said weakly, "Myotismon is here. He has another Shadow Crest. That's why I'm like this."  
  
The older boy's eyes widened, and he set Kari back on her feet. She kept a hand on his shoulder to steady herself, and felt him slip an arm around her waist. Together, they turned to face Myotismon.  
  
"Ugh! I can't believe he's back again!" Mimi sounded disgusted, "When will we get rid of him?"  
  
"Bad luck, you creep!" Yolei said triumphantly, "Agumon and Gabumon aren't here with us!"  
  
"Yes, so run back to your cave!" Hawkmon added. Electricity crackled between Tentomon's antenna, making his own feelings perfectly clear. Palmon nodded her agreement, bunching her vines in a tight fist. Gatomon simply growled, the fur on her back and tail standing on end.  
  
"Ah, but this isn't the Crest of Cowardice or Enmity," a slow smile spread across his face, "This is the Crest of Deceptions."  
  
Quickly, Kari's mind went through their Crests and tried to match them up with an opposite quality. Her Crest was Light, so Gatomon would Darkdigivolve with the Crest of Darkness. Izzy's was Knowledge, so Tentomon would be affected by something like the Crest of Ignorance. And Mimi's was Sincerity, so . . . .  
  
With a jolt, she realised exactly who was in danger.  
  
"Quick, Mimi," Kari yelled, "You have to get Palmon out of here."  
  
"Too late," Myotismon held out the crest, so that it glistened its greasy rainbow in the light, "Palmon .... Dark Digivolve...."  
  
****  
  
(1) Paraphrase of one of Pascal's most famous quotes: "The heart has its reasons that reason cannot know." 


	9. Seeing Red

All the characters belong to Hongo Akiyoshi and Toei. All the prose is mine. I'm not a Mimi fan - can you tell? ^.^;;  

I'm going to be rewriting the previous parts to bring them more in line with the Japanese version. However, I rewrite so slowly that I don't think it's fair to make you wait on them. Hence, this part. 

Thanks to Alan, because he'll recognise some of Koushirou's theories from our discussions. 

_****_

D3: SEEING RED

"Palmon . . . Darkevolve . . . ."

As Vandemon spoke the last word in a triumphant shout, darkness poured from the sky to hide Palmon from sight. All that was visible through it was a faint, purple glow that grew larger and brighter with each passing second. The glow began shaping itself, forming a leg, a hand, a pair of wings. . . . 

With a parting smirk, Vandemon wrapped his cloak around him and a flight of bats rose squeaking into the clear, afternoon sky.

It was enough to break the fear and horror that had held them all immobile up until that point. Koushirou reached into his pocket to pull out his Digivice, and saw Hikari do the same at his side with her D3. The younger girl was looking a lot stronger - some of the colour had returned to her cheeks, and there was a determined light in her eyes. She had stopped leaning on him too. 

Before they could evolve their Digimon and attack, however, Mimi screamed and ran towards her partner. Sora caught her arm and pulled her roughly back to the rest of them. 

"Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!" Mimi shrieked, clawing and hitting at Sora with her free hand. Her nails cut the other girl's skin and caused blood to well up in her arms and cheeks, but she didn't loosen her grip on her by a fraction, "Let me go, Sora! Let me - "  

There was a sound like a whipcrack. Mimi stopped struggling and stared at Hikari in disbelief, her hand clutched to her cheek. A red mark spread between her fingers. Koushirou battled to choke down an incredulous, slightly hysterical laugh. The younger girl had crossed the gap between them, and had slapped Mimi with all her strength. Now, she stood with her fists clenched at her sides and a disgusted look in her cinnamon eyes. 

"Stop it," Hikari's voice was cool, "You're just making everything worse. You always do this, and it always makes everything worse." 

"Yagami Hikari! I can't believe you just did that! And how could you say that to her?" Miyako exclaimed in horror, "Mimi, are you okay?" 

"I'm . . . I'm fine," Mimi sounded slightly stunned, "I . . . Hikari?" 

The younger girl looked away from her, folding her arms across her chest. 

"No bones broken this time, but there will be unless we do something about Palmon," Koushirou said briskly, feeling it was past time someone reminded them of the realities of the situation. Everyone turned to look at the evolving Digimon. The purple glow was fading as the darkness dissipated, and they could finally see what they would be facing. 

Palmon's dark evolution didn't look as imposing as either Skullgreymon or Luperkalimon had. If her normal, ultimate form was a waterlily, then she was a poppy in this one. A cap made from a scarlet flower covered the profusion of thorny vines that grew from her head, and her dress was made from the same petals. An intricate, black symbol was tattooed across the one side of her face, while her lips were as a red as blood. Two, bright fangs jutted out over them. Wickedly sharp spurs protruded from her forearms and from her calves. On her back, she had a pair of dragonflies' wings, which vibrated almost too quickly to be seen. Her eyes darted around herself, as if unsure of her surroundings.

Koushirou glanced across to Mimi, and saw only stunned horror on her face. Her cheek still throbbed red from Hikari's slap; her eyes were wet, although she was not yet crying.

"Poppymon," Tailmon exclaimed, "I hoped it wouldn't be her." 

"Nonsense. We can totally handle this," Miyako said confidently, pulling out her D3 and snapping it open with a practised flick, "That pixie looks like she'll be a pushover! Let's do it, Hawkmon!" 

"As you wish, Miyako."

"Digimental Up!" Miyako yelled as she held her D-Terminal into the air. 

As with so many other things, Koushirou had speculated long and hard about armour evolutions. He had theorised that it depended on the Digimon as much as it did on the humans; that was, it was tied to the human's innate characteristics and state of mind, as well as to the Digimon's own capabilities. Although Taichi personified courage, Agumon could not use the Digimental of Courage, because the Digimon did not have the ability to use the older form of evolution. Conversely, although V-Mon could use the Digimental of Friendship, it had taken Daisuke realising the meaning of true friendship to enable it. 

As to the process itself, he had less material for speculation, a fact which annoyed him at times. He had watched every time in the hopes of seeing what happened at the exact moment that Digimental and Digimon become one, and every time the light frustratingly had blinded him as they did. 

This time was no exception. Hawkmon disappeared in a blaze of brilliant light the instant the digital egg reached him, and he was forced to cover his eyes. Spots of colour danced across his field of vision. 

"Hawkmon . . . armour evolve  . . . Flying Love, Holsemon!" (1)

Beating his powerful wings, Holsemon soared into the air. He was a long, slim Digimon that looked like a cross between an eagle and a fighter jet. With a whoop of triumph, Miyako leapt into the air and flashed a thumbs' up sign at Mimi, "BINGO!"

Koushirou exchanged nods with Hikari and Sora, then they followed suite. Moments later, Kabuterimon, Nefertimon and Birdramon rose to join Holsemon. 

All her attention now focussed on them, a smile of strange delight curled back Poppymon's lips. The rest of her teeth were as bright and sharp as the two fangs were. With shocking speed, she suddenly flew straight at the humans. 

"HOLSEMON!" Miyako yelled, "STOP HER!" 

However, it was Kabuterimon who come to their rescue, placing himself between the speeding Digimon and the five humans. The spurs on her arms screeched off his carapace, leaving deep gouges but doing no real harm to him. Poppymon hissed in fury, but twisted away from him, evidently to try another angle of attack.

Resolving not to give her another chance, Koushirou said, "Get her, Kabuterimon!"

"Don't hurt her!" Mimi pleaded, "Please, Palmon is somewhere in her! Don't hurt her!" 

"We'll do our best," Sora reassured her, and Miyako added, "Palmon will be fine, Mimi." 

"Do what you have to do, Nefertimon," Kari said in a firm voice, earning herself a sharp look from Miyako. Koushirou shook his head. Kari had never liked Mimi very much when they had all been kids in the Digital World, and that dislike had only grown stronger with time. However, this was not the time or place for in-fighting. 

Obedient to their orders as always, their Digimon flew after Poppymon and unleashed their attacks. Laser beams tore through the air, followed by crackling bolts of lightning and burning fireballs. Their aim was perfect, but the dark Digimon was simply too fast and agile for them, slipping easily around all of the attacks. A nasty, little smirk on her face, Poppymon pulled back into the air and spread out her palms.

"PETAL STORM!" her voice was a shriek like a hawk's hunting-cry. Red petals shot out of her hands and began drifting slowly down towards the waiting Digimon, like a mockery of a wedding. They stirred a little in the breezes created by the Digimon's beating wings, all of whom were watching them with confusion and more than a little suspicion. 

"What did I tell -" Miyako began, but a series of explosions drowned out the rest of her sentence as the petals disintegrated into light and noise in an instant. The force knocked all of the children to their knees, and their Digimon fell to the pavement. All of them, apart from Birdramon who had been blocked from the worst of it by the others, reverted back to their child forms. Koushirou's stomach lurched, when he realised just how powerful Poppymon actually was. It seemed Miyako's assessment had been premature.

"Tentomon, are you okay?" 

The insect Digimon lifted his head weakly, "I'll tell you when I can feel my shell again." 

He smiled in relief. If Tentomon was cracking bad jokes, that meant he was okay. 

"Stop this, Palmon! Stop this right now!" Mimi yelled, getting to her feet. Tears streaked her cheeks, and her hair had come out of its elegant twist to float in loose strands around her face, "This isn't you!" 

"Foolish child," Poppymon said in the same terrible voice as before, "I am not Palmon. I have evolved beyond needing an empty-headed, self-centered human like you."

Mimi's mouth worked, but no sound came out of it. Fresh tears began to well up in her brown eyes. Poppymon smirked, "You are weak. There is no need for you."

Lifting one hand towards her partner, red energy gathered in the centre of her palm. It looked almost like she was bleeding light to Koushirou's horrified eyes. She clenched her fist, and it shot towards Mimi, "CRIMSON CORONA!" 

Mimi did not move, but stared at the approaching beam in disbelief, her shocked face reflecting the scarlet light. 

"Watch out, Mimi!" Miyako shrieked, but it was Sora who dived and knocked Mimi out of its path. Even then, she just lay on the pavement, hugging herself, weeping openly. An anxious look on her face, Sora crouched beside her and said something to her in a soft voice. Mimi showed no signs of having heard her. 

"Hikari," Tailmon tugged urgently on her partner's skirt, "We need to slow her down. She's just too fast. We don't have a cat's chance of catching her as we are." 

"And you can't pull the Golden Noose trick without Pegasusmon. Great," Hikari sighed, "What about Silphymon? Does she . . . he . . . do you and Aquilamon have the speed?" 

"Worth trying," Tailmon said with a graceful shrug, then shouted, "Hey, Hawkmon, Miyako! We need to jogress!" 

Miyako lifted her worried gaze from Mimi, and nodded her understanding. She fumbled in her jacket pockets for her D3, pulling it out and holding it up into the air, "Do it, Hawkmon!" 

"Hawkmon evolve . . . . Aquilamon!" he yelled as brilliant light began to surround him. Moments later, Aquilamon was standing where Hawkmon had been. If Holsemon was the unlikely offspring of a fighter-jet and a bird-of-prey, then Aquilamon was a hawk crossed with a buffalo. Two long, pointed horns curved outward from his head, and powerful muscles rippled his brown-and-white feathers when he moved. 

"Ready?" Hikari asked Miyako, who flashed her the bingo sign. 

"Hawkmon . . . ."

"Tailmon . . . ." 

". . . Jogress evolve . . . Silphymon!" 

Jogressing was another form of evolution that Koushirou did not quite understand. Gennai had said that it was an ancient ability that predated the creation of the Crests and the Superevolving for which they allowed. It allowed the two Digimon concerned to reach the next stage of evolution, albeit as a single entity. Moreover, much like the armour evolving technique, it also depended on the Digimon's human partners. They had to have a bond of as well, or else it would never work. He sometimes wondered what sweet, quiet Hikari and flamboyant Miyako had in common, but he guessed it had to be something. The fact that Silphymon was standing in front of him right now was proof of that. (2)

Miyako grinned at Hikari, but the other girl's determined expression didn't soften for a second.

"Get her, Silphymon," she said in a soft, dangerous voice.

Nodding, Silphymon bounded into the air and cupped its palms. Power began to crackle between its fingers, and shot out as a glowing bolt. Gracefully, Poppymon flew to one side to avoid it, "Pathetic." 

"Maybe not," Birdramon answered, rising behind her and lifting her wings to fan out firebolts of her own. Picking up on the unspoken cue, Silphymon attacked with another static charge, and Tentomon added a rather ineffectual bolt of lightning to the combination. Rolling her eyes expressively, Poppymon twisted and sped up into the sky. The attacks collided with each other in the centre, and a deafening explosion boomed along the street. 

"PETAL STORM!" Poppymon cried triumphantly, and crimson petals began falling from the sky again. This time, however, Birdramon was ready for her. Flapping her great wings steadily, she blew the petals back towards Silphymon. There was just enough time for Koushirou to see Poppymon's lips curl back in a snarl of horror, then the explosions blooming like flowers against the blue sky hid her from sight. A small, limp figure began falling to the ground, and Silphymon dived to catch it. 

"She's still breathing," the hybrid Digimon exclaimed in relief, landing in front of them with Palmon in its arms. She looked a little scratched and bruised, but otherwise okay. 

"We did it!" Miyako screamed in delight, punching the air, "Bingo! Bingo! Bingo!" 

"Yeah, we did," Sora sounded tired, "Good move, Birdramon." 

The bird Digimon inclined her head gracefully in acknowledgement. 

"Very smart move," Koushirou agreed, "We won thanks to your quick thinking." 

"Palmon?" Mimi asked weakly, getting to her feet and staggering across to her Digimon. Her hair was down around her shoulders, mascara streaked her face, and her lipstick was a pink smudge. Her designer blouse was ripped, and her skirt, filthy. She had lost one of her shoes too, "Palmon . . . ." 

Looking at her distraught face, knowing it would take her a long time to heal from the wounds inflicted today, Koushirou wasn't sure how much of a victory it was. 

****

_Next time: Myotismon has possession of three of the Dark Crests now, which he has used to devestating effect against the Chosen Children. Now, they decide it's time to strike back, and, to do that, they need their crests. It's a quest for the crests! The gate to adventure opens! _

****

NOTES: 

(1) More 'flapping love', but that just sounds stupid in English. 

(2) Ah, one of my major, wtf-were-they-smoking-at-that-staff-meeting annoyances with 02: contrived, jogress partners. Logically speaking, Takeru and Hikari or Miyako and Iori are a great deal closer, so they should be more naturally able to jogress. Also, in the case of the former, there is the fact that their Digimon are linked in practically every other respect. Stupid Toei. I'm going to fix it in this 'fic eventually. Watch me. :P 


	10. The Quest for the Crests Part 1

_All the characters belong to Akiyoshi Hongo and Toei, and I'm not making any profit. This is slightly different to my usual style of writing, but I've been rewatching the show and have been more than a little influenced by that. _

_And, yes, Japanese V-Mon is this hyper. "Daisuke! Daisuke! Daisuke!" ^.^; _

D3.10:  The Quest for the Crests – Part 1 

"I'm sorry Tentomon and I are so late," Koushirou apologised, as Takeru opened the door to let him into the Ishidas' apartment, "Mom made me wait to get sandwiches for all of you." 

Feeling slightly embarrassed, he held out the cloth-wrapped bundle to the younger boy. His mother had really made the sandwiches for Yamato. She was convinced that he couldn't be eating properly if he was just living with his father, and had made it her mission to feed him. She kept packing extra food into Koushirou's lunches with cryptic instructions to share it with his friend. He chose to interpret that as Taichi. Taichi wasn't fussy about accepting food, whereas Yamato would have been offended.

"_Nii-san_ is making spaghetti for us, but these won't go to waste with twelve Digimon here," Takeru took it from him with a smile, "You know how they can eat." 

"My mom keeps planning to charge 'Tento' rent, if he carries on eating everything in her fridge," Koushirou replied wryly. His mother still refused to accept that his partner was anything but a strange-looking friend that he had. 

"Koushirou!" Tentomon protested from his shoulder, "I don't eat that much!" 

Laughing, "Hey, I still don't think I was wrong about Patamon evolving into a pig. He didn't even need me to do it."

Joining his laughter to Takeru's, Koushirou followed him through to the lounge. All the others had already arrived, and were spread out on every imaginable surface. Taichi and Daisuke were lying on their stomachs in front of the television, Playstation controllers in their hands, playing a game that seemed to involve giant robots hitting each other. V-Mon and Agumon were alternatively cheering them on and begging them for a turn. Ken, Iori and Miyako were sitting on the sofa with their partners, having a quiet conversation among themselves. Koushirou noticed that Ken's arm was around Miyako's shoulders, and she was curled up against his chest. He felt a slight twinge of jealousy at that, but quickly surpressed it again. A red-faced Jyou was trying to dissuade Gomamon from bouncing up and down on one of the other couches. Mimi, Sora, Piyomon and Palmon were laughing together in a corner and shooting occasional looks at the others. In the kitchenette, Hikari was stirring spaghetti sauce, while Gabumon, Patamon and Tailmon added ingredients to it all under Yamato's watchful eye. The blond boy was ensconced in a pink, frilly apron that would have looked ridiculous on Mimi. 

Koushirou smiled to himself. Despite the circumstances, he was glad to have the friends he did. He had not known what he had been missing in the ten lonely years before he had met them at the summer camp that had become a desperate fight for the survival of the Digital World. It had changed all their lives, and he was no exception. 

"Sorry I'm late," he dipped his head politely in greeting, "Mom made sandwiches."

"Yes! I'm starved!" Daisuke punched the air with his fist, then winced as Taichi took the opportunity to deliver a knock-out combo to his robot, "Taichi! That's unfair!"

"You snooze, you lose," he replied complacently.

Gomamon jumped off the couch and paddled over to where Koushirou and Takeru were standing. V-Mon and Agumon weren't far behind him. There was a hungry gleam in the eyes of all three Digimon, "So, where are these sandwiches already?"

The younger boy knelt on the floor and undid the knot that held the bundle together, before opening the cloth to reveal a mountain of sandwiches. Koushirou felt his cheeks grow warm. His mother certainly couldn't be accused of underfeeding anyone. 

"Cool! Cool! Cool!" V-Mon started bouncing up and down, clapping his hands together, 'Thank you, Koushirou! Thank you! Thank you!"

Agumon and Gomamon didn't waste any time on words, grabbing a sandwich off the top of the pile and stuffing the whole thing into their mouths. 

"Delicious!" Agumon murmured blissfully through a mouthful of crumbs, "Mmmmm."

"Definitely delicious," Gomamon echoed.

Unsurprisingly, it wasn't long before the other humans and Digimon were clustered around the sandwiches and were helping themselves to them. The pile diminished rapidly.

"Hey!" Yamato called from the kitchen, stabbing a spoon in their direction, "Don't spoil your appetite! Spaghetti's almost ready, and I'll be pissed if everyone's too full to eat it!"

"Because supervising is just so much work," Tailmon murmured just loud enough for him to hear. Patamon sweatdropped.

"No chance of that!" Daisuke grinned, "We're talking Digimon here!"

"Yep, Agumon could demolish these sandwiches and your pot of spaghetti and have room for desert," Taichi said fondly.

Agumon patted his round stomach, "Bring it on!" 

Everyone burst out laughing.

********

When the spaghetti had been dished up and everyone was sitting on the floor with plates in their laps, Taichi looked around at the others, "I hate to spoil a good meal by talking business, but that is why we're here. . . ."

"Can't it wait until we're at Gennai's?" Mimi complained, twirling noodles around her fork and letting them slip back onto her plate, "We can't do anything until we see what he says, right?" 

"Not really," Takeru smiled apologetically at her, "We've been so busy handling this threat that we haven't thought about what's happening. I think we should get it straight before we go to Gennai." 

"I agree with Takeru," Hikari said from next to him, "We can't just go to Gennai expecting him to have all the answers. At very least, we should know what questions to ask him." 

"There's a surprise," Mimi muttered, rolling her eyes. Taichi guessed that she hadn't forgiven Hikari for slapping her the other day. He still couldn't believe that his sweet, gentle sister had done that, although he could understand why. From what she had told him, Mimi had become hysterical when she had seen Palmon dark-evolving, and slapping her had been the only way to snap her out of it. However, that didn't explain the cutting things that Hikari had said to her, or the angry glare that she was giving her now.

"So, what is going on?" Jyou asked, "I mean, obviously, a gate was opened between our two worlds and Vandemon came through it." 

Gabumon nodded, "Agumon and I saw him." 

"And he's somehow gotten his claws on the Shadow Crests," Agumon added with a scowl.

"But what are the Shadow Crests?" Iori had a puzzled frown on his face, "I know all of you had your crests, like Jyou had faith or Koushirou had knowledge, but weren't they made especially for you?"

For a long time, the only sound was the clinking of forks on plates, as everyone thought about Iori's questions. It was a good one too, Taichi thought. When the entity that had possessed Hikari had shown them the facility where their Digimon had been created, it had said that their crests had been formed from the qualities that were strongest in them on the night when he had met a Koromon for the first time. Why would they have created Shadow Crests too?

"Balance," Takeru said suddenly, "There always has to be balance in the Digital World, right?"

"Right," Koushirou sounded excited, "If they were to make crests that only had positive qualities, that balance would be disturbed. So, they had to make the Shadow Crests as well in order to preserve it."

"Makes sense to me," Tentomon said.

"But those Shadow Crests probably weren't meant to be found," Sora added, swallowing her mouthful of spaghetti, "You know how well ours were hidden. The Shadow Crests were probably hidden even better."

"But Vandemon found them anyway," Ken's voice was quiet, "We know he's already found three."

"The Crest of Cowardice," Taichi said fiercely, while Agumon growled his agreement.

"The Crest of Enmity," Yamato looked down at Gabumon and a momentary sadness came into his crystal-blue eyes as if he could see what might have been. Gabumon snuggled a little closer to him, laying his head on his leg.

"And the Crest of Deception," Mimi clenched her hands at her sides, "The creep! I'll kill him when I find him!"

"Yeah!" Palmon echoed with no less fury, "He'll learn not to mess with us!"

"And that leaves six to go," Jyou continued, "We don't know when he'll find the next one. In the meantime, he could just reuse the three he has."

"If he does . . . ." Hikari dropped her eyes to the floor, "If he does . . . . We might not win. As we are, we can barely take one of the dark Digimon."

Takeru put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Which is why we need to find our crests. Things'll look much better when we have HolyAngemon and Angewomon."

"I hope so," Hikari did not sound convinced.

"Of course they will!" Daisuke said with his usual confidence, "Besides, now that Wormmon's fine again, we have Imperialdramon! Imperialdramon can take anyone any day." 

"Yeah!" V-Mon dropped into a boxing stance and punching the air, "Imperialdramon! Fighter Mode! Take that!"

As everyone laughed, Taichi said, "Well, once everyone's finished eating, we can head out to Gennai's . . . ."

******

"So, you're sure your father is working late tonight and won't pull the plug on us?" Miyako asked Yamato anxiously, as she followed him towards his bedroom. 

"Yeah," Yamato replied, "The world would come to an end if dad came back from work early." 

Walking through the door, Miyako's eyes widened. She had thought her brothers' room was bad, but they were neat freaks in comparison to Yamato. There were two beds in the room, one of which was unmade and the other of which seemed to serve as his wardrobe. She guessed he cleared off all the clothes when Takeru slept the night. There was a table next to one of them, cluttered with photos of him with his family and friends, an alarm-clock and a half empty glass of water. His prized guitar leaned against one of the walls, next to a stack of sheet music and a box of CDs. By the looks of their hand-written fronts, Yamato didn't believe in paying for music. The floor was almost completely covered in books, more clothes and papers, with only a narrow path leading between the bed, the desk and the door. 

In the middle of all the chaos, Koushirou was sitting at the computer and tapping away at the keyboard. He smiled in satisfaction as the familiar gate popped up on the screen.

"Got it."

"Good," Taichi said, pretending to look around himself for something, "Now to make sure that none of the Digimon have gotten lost somewhere in Yamato's junk . . . ." 

Yamato punched his friend lightly on his arm, "Hey, your room isn't much better."

"Tell me about it," Hikari teased, "I have to share with him." 

Taichi glared at his little sister and she made a face at him, before they both burst out laughing. 

Smiling to herself, Miyako picked her way across the floor to Koushirou. Hikari was so lucky to have a cool brother like Taichi. Her own brothers only spoke to her when they wanted her to pass them more food at mealtimes, or when they tried to hit her up for money. 

She laid her hand on the back on Koushirou's chair and saw him jump. 

"Sorry," she apologised quickly, "I didn't mean to startle you." 

"No problem," he looked embarrassed, although she did not understand what he had to be embarrassed about, "Do you want to do the honours?"

"I always do," she grinned at him, pulling her Digivice out from a pocket in her dress and holding it up to the computer screen, "DIGITAL GATE OPEN!"

"You don't need to shout it," Daisuke grumbled, uncovering his ears, "Now my ears hurt."

Outraged, Miyako opened her mouth to tell him that her eyes hurt from having to look at him all day, but Koushirou cut off whatever she might have said, "No time to waste. Gennai's waiting for us . . . ." 

*******

As he stepped through the gateway into the Digital World, Takeru looked around himself in horror. In his absence, the landscape had been washed of all colour. The grass beneath his feet looked almost transparent, while the trees were slim, grey phantoms against a white sky. Even the sun was pale and faint, as if it were slowly dying. He felt Patamon give a little shiver in his arms.

"Yeah, it isn't a good sign," he said to his partner, "What do you think is causing it?"

"I don't know. It's been like this for a while, just getting worse and worse," Patamon sounded worried, "It feels bad, Takeru."

"Like the Dark Ocean," Hikari said quietly, "It feels like that, doesn't it?"

Feeling a familiar flicker of dread in his chest, Takeru turned towards her. No matter how much he tried to convince himself that that danger had passed and Hikari was safe, he couldn't quite manage it. He knew how close he had come to losing her, and it haunted him. However, there was no fear on her face, only a mixture of anger and determination. He took that as a good sign. (1)

"The Digital World is so severely out of balance that you can see it in the landscape," Tailmon told them, "We don't know what is causing it, though." 

"Must be Vandemon," Hikari's fists clenched at her sides, "But he won't get away with it."

"No, he won't," Takeru said vehemently, "We'll stop him for good this time." 

Patamon looked up at him, concern in his eyes. Takeru ignored it. He knew his partner worried about him, worried about how much he hated the darkness. He did not understand why. The bleak landscape around him was proof enough of why he needed to stand up against the darkness; of why someone needed to fight to preserve the goodness and the light in the world. However, there were times when he was afraid that his reaction was still that of the eight year-old boy weeping over fallen feathers in the dust.

"If you don't, both worlds could be in serious danger," a familiar voice said.

A tall, robed figure walked out from between the trees, a sword in its scabbard bumping against his leg. He threw back his hood to reveal a handsome, if slightly weather-beaten, face. He had sandy-brown hair pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck, and the piercing eyes of a hunting hawk, which seemed to see through everything. 

"Gennai," Hikari said in relief, "You came." 

******

"It is good to see all of you again, although I wish the circumstances were better," Gennai began once everyone was seated on the ground looking at him, "As you know, Vandemon has found the Shadow Crests, which we had hoped were buried and forgotten for good."

"Trust me, we know," Taichi said grimly, "We've had to fight our own partners because of that creep." 

A troubled expression coming to his face, Gennai nodded, "When we created them, we feared that they would be used against us, but we had no choice in the matter." 

"Why?" Daisuke exclaimed, "I know Takeru said it was about balance or whatever, but what's so bad about having more light in the world?"

"The brighter the light shines, the deeper the shadow it casts," Ken turned to Gennai for confirmation, "Am I right?"

"Right," Gennai grimaced, "It seemed logical to contain that darkness in the Shadow Crests, then bury them where no-one would find them." 

"Or so you hoped," Yamato's eyes were as hard and cold as blue crystal, "Now, Vandemon's got them and he's going to use them destroy us, unless we get back our own crests. We don't have a chance in hell against him without them."

"Why do we even need our crests?" Mimi scrunched up her pretty nose in confusion, "We didn't when we fought Apocalymon."

"And I evolved when I touched one of those Destiny Stones," Patamon chirruped from Takeru's head, "All the way to HolyAngemon!" 

Takeru smiled at his partner's enthusiasm, "The only problem is I can't carry around a Destiny Stone together with my Digivice, can I?"

"And we were in that strange dimension when our Digimon evolved to fight Apocalymon," Koushirou continued, "Maybe the physics were different there?" 

"Maybe," Jyou sat up straighter and adjusted his glasses, "Maybe our crests are like a catalyst?" 

"Cat-a-lyst?" Gomamon asked from next to him, "We're not talking about bunch of Tailmon here, are we?"

"No," Miyako giggled, "A catalyst is something that helps a chemical reaction to take place. In this case, the crests probably help you have enough energy to evolve." 

"Gotcha." 

"You're absolutely correct," Gennai smiled at them, "Although you still possess the qualities that allow your Digimon to evolve, they also need a certain amount of energy to do so, and that is channeled through the crests." 

"In other words, we're screwed unless you guys can get your crests back," Miyako said glumly, "So, can they?" 

"Yes, they can," Gennai said, although he did not look happy about it, "When Koushirou contacted me, I went straight to my library and did some research on the matter. In the course of my reading, I came across a reference to a . . . a method that might return your crests to you. It is dangerous and there are no guarantees that it will actually work, but it is the only possible way that I can see. But . . . ."

"No buts," Taichi cut him off, getting to his feet, his fists clenching at his sides, "No matter what it takes, we'll make it work. Right, guys?"

"RIGHT!" 

************

**Next time on D3: **The quest for the Crests begins as the Chosen Children face their greatest and most dangerous challenge yet. Meanwhile, Vandemon is causing trouble back in Tokyo . . . . Open the gate to adventure! 

************

**Notes:**

1) Okay, I'm not letting this story get bogged down in the Dark Ocean plotline. If you want to read how I think it could and should have played out in the end, read "A Storm Over Blossoms". 


End file.
